Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.

City marks annual Smokeout

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



CHICOPEE On Nov. 15, Roxanne LaBonte had been without a cigarette for 25 days. Barbara Galinda had also recently quit. Both City Hall employees were on hand for the issuing of a proclamation recognizing the Great American Smokeout on Nov. 16.

Mayor Michael Bissonnette, who quit smoking 10 years ago, was joined in is office by Arlela Bethel of the American Cancer Society.

Bethel said that despite much publicity about the harmful effects of smoking, the habit is on the rise among young people, many who start as early as 12 years of age.

Fact sheets distributed by Bethel stated that 45.4 million Americans are addicted to tobacco, which means about one in four adults and one in five teems are smokers. Smoking will cause about 30 percent of the estimated 564,830 cancer deaths in 2006.

Bethel urged people to support one another in a smoking cessation program and asked people to 'adopt" a smoker for the Smokeout.

Quitting is hard to do and only five percent of the smokers who do attempt to kick the habit are able to stay smoke-free for three to 12 months. The rewards are if a smoker quits by the age of 30 he or she has a 90 percent chance of avoiding a tobacco-aided death. By age 50, those odds are cut to 50 percent.

Bethel applauded the women who shared the commitment to quit.

LaBonte is being helped by a friend to combat the urge to smoke, while Galinda is receiving acupressure treatments, which she said not only helps in the cravings for cigarettes but also for food as well.

"We have to keep it up," Galinda said with a smile to LaBonte. "They have our names."