Well, I'm sure all us smokers have been there haven't we? "That's it, I'm quitting." Throw the cigarettes into the trash, great, decision made.

Within an hour of making that decision never to smoke again that familiar desire for a smoke rears its ugly head, and that desire doesn't fade away. When the phone rings, when you have a problem, when you go a party, and especially first thing in the morning, you crave a cigarette.

You thought you were going to feel great, but you don't of course. Your food tastes no better, you don't sleep any better, you don't think any more clearly. Most of your thoughts in fact are centred around how much you want that cigarette.

So, to try and take your mind off tobacco you substitute. You chew gum, maybe two or three packages a day. Hey it's only about 60 calories, and the candy really doesn't add up to much. You eat a bit more bread with your meals, even that won't add up to more than 300 extra calories.

Of course it only takes about 3,600 extra calories to add an extra pound of fat. It doesn't matter if you are consuming them daily, weekly or annually. They add up, and guess what? You're gaining a couple of pounds a week. Pretty soon you're having to get your clothes altered. When they get uncomfortable again you start smoking again. "Well everyone knows it's worse to be overweight than to smoke." It's easy to justify.

As a by-product you also become grumpy, miserable, and generally not very nice to be around. It's not until you actually stop smoking that you realize we live in a world of cigarettes. Even in this "enlightened " age of restrictions on cigarette advertising people are still smoking all around us, and on films and TV.

Yes, in the real world it's all too easy to be reminded almost constantly of the pleasures of smoking, and to cap it all do we really care about the dangers of smoking?

Not too long ago Americans were told that part of a cranberry crop may have been contaminated by a carcinogenic agent. The cranberry industry almost collapsed overnight. Not only was the fruit boycotted, but also by-products such as juices, jellies, and sauces.

This was despite government publicity stating that the problem was minute and someone would have to eat vast quantities of the affected fruit in a short time to be affected in any way, and the affected fruit had been destroyed anyway. It took a long time for the industry to recover.

This raises the very interesting question. Why is it that one announcement about a relatively small quantity of cranberries can produce a massive boycott, whilst years and years of adverse publicity about cigarettes has had little or no effect on sales?

Maybe the tide is gradually turning, but it's still down to the individual to make their decision. It is a fact that cigarette smoking is one of the major causes of premature death, highly addictive, and highly poisonous.

You CAN beat it. You CAN quit smoking, and it doesn't have to be painful. There are many good programs out there. Just find one that suits you, and stick to it.

Chris Haycock