Smokers told not to go cold turkey in campaign
STUNT Giblet the turkey
TODAY smokers trying to quit are being encouraged to get help from a roadshow at Gunwharf Quays.
As part of pharmaceutical company Pfizer’s Don’t Go Cold Turkey campaign, advisers will offer information and cold turkey sandwiches to those trying to kick the habit.
A turkey called Giblet will be out and about to promote the scheme.
Research undertaken by the firm estimates that 60 per cent of Portsmouth-based smokers, the equivalent of 24,000 people, will try to quit smoking in January as a new year’s resolution, but half will have failed within a one week.
And according to a survey of 6,300 current or former smokers, one in 10 quit attempts will last less than 24 hours. It revealed that the most popular method to quit smoking in Portsmouth is going cold turkey – a method of trying to give up immediately using willpower alone.
However, the company’s research suggests this is the least effective method with only three per cent remaining smoke-free after one year.
Lisa Maxwell, presenter on TV show Loose Women and an ex-smoker, is supporting the campaign and said: ‘Breaking this addiction has been one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever had to face. I sought help and advice from a healthcare professional and fully recommend this as the most successful route for quitting.’
Visit quitwithhelp.co.uk for information on quitting.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Portsmouth
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 13 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 13 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: East
Comments
There are 2 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
freedomnicotine
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 01:08 PMPfizer isn't stupid. It knows that cold turkey is responsible for having generated more ex-smokers than all other quitting methods combined. It knows that abrupt nicotine cessation is fast, free, science-based and safe. Notice how no pharmaceutical company ever mentions the one year survey rate for NRT, Zyban or Champix or Chantix. In fact, in nearly every real-world quitting method survey to date, medication's long-term rate was actually lower than cold turkey, no medication or unassisted. Pharm industry campaigns such as this are designed to get smokers to fear their natural quitting instincts. They play and prey upon your chemical addiction and the collective message sent from thousands of old nicotine use memories, that smoking more is the way to satisfy wanting. Those memories tease and entice continued use and make you fear quitting. Cold turkey bashing campaigns such as this reinforce those fears while promising an easier way out. While NRT, Zyban and ChantixChampix clobber placebo inside clinical trials they fall flat on their face when going up against real cold turkey quitters under real world conditions. Why? There's a host of reasons but biggest among them is that placebo isn't a real quitting method and clinical trials were not blind as claimed. Would you be able to tell whether or not the gum or lozenge in you mouth contained nicotine? So could many of them. There's just one rule when quitting. It's that one equals all, that lapse equals relapse, that one puff is too many and thousands never enough. While most walk away from trying to cheat when quitting feeling like they've gotten away with it, it isn't long before their awakened and reinforced dependency is again wanting and begging for more. There's just one rule ... no nicotine just one hour, challenge and day at a time, to never take another puff! John R. Polito Nioctine Cessation Educator
PFC_Paul
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 10:33 AMI quit smoking 9 months ago and I did it cold turkey, of course this pharmaceutical company is going to advise you not to do it that way, it wants your money. In my experience of friends and family quitting smoking 90% of them go back to the smokes regardless of wether they quit cold turkey or not. It's all about your desire to quit and stay off the cigs, if you realy want to, you'll stay nicotene free.
Page 1 of 1
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.