Hagerstown Magazine - The Best of Life in Washington County & Beyond

January/February 2010
A Farewell to Nicotine
Smoking Cessation Aids and the Help of Structured Support Groups Assist Aspiring Ex-Smokers Break the Habit for Good.

by Arlene Karidis + photos by Jamie Turner

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Ending relationships is hard, even the ones that we know are not in our best interest. Sometimes, it takes the help of friends, those who’ve been there or are going through the same struggles, to help us find the strength — and a poignant farewell ceremony can reinforce the fact that ties are cut for good.

It’s true of human relationships, but translates just as well to some bonds we form with inanimate objects. In the case of smokers, a farewell ceremony for cigarettes — like giving up the last artifacts related to a bad relationship — can be a powerful component of an aspiring ex-smoker’s “Quit Day” and works well as a component of several smoking cessation programs. “It is a day you say to your cigarettes, ‘You’ve been my best friend for years, but I don’t need you anymore,’” says Celeste Snavely, who facilitates the American Lung Association Freedom from Smoking curriculum offered by the Healthy Communities Partnership of Greater Franklin County, which is free to the general public. During the ceremony participants read good-bye letters they’ve written to their cigarettes. Some classes actually have funerals where members bring in items they used when they smoked — maybe a coffee cup or a fashion magazine — and place them in a “casket.” They say a few words about what they will miss. In a visual and emotional goodbye, the casket lid is closed and the contents are removed from the room.