GUEST COLUMNIST Your choice life or death

She first began smoking at the age of 12 or 13. She is still smoking today. She has tried to quit many times but the addiction is so strong it's very hard to quit. The success rate is about one out of ten who attempt to quit. She has had acupuncture, hypnosis and smoking cessation, used patches, shots behind the ear, and has tried medication to stop smoking. Nothing has worked so far. The nicotine is just so addictive. Now her health has begun to deteriorate. She has been diagnosed with vascular calcification.

I have her permission to tell this. Vascular calcification can be caused by smoking and it is a disease of the elderly, not someone in their forties.

We have been talking to each other through e-mails and over the phone. Through out our conversations, she has expressed over and over her desire to quit this awful habit.

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Smoking Ad

You've probably seen the new public service announcements that feature a man in a playground encouraging people to stop smoking. Did you know the man in the ads still smokes despite the fact that he had seventeen blood clots, two heart attacks, strokes and two amputations. The man is named Skip LeGault. He agreed to do the public service announcements (psa's) because his sister asked him to, and despite the attention and criticism, LeGault insists he isn't a hypocrite. He said, "Why am I still smoking? Because I thought I wasn't going to win life... I thought it was all over for me"But all that's changed. Skip now talks to kids about the dangers of smoking-- in classrooms and seminars. He says he found new purpose for his life. LeGault has Berger's disease...caused by smoking.

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