You can, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Paradise Falls, which has recently gone smoke-free itself. Cold turkey, get it?
“Paradise Falls is one of the places that has seen the advantage of going smoke-free, and we all know about the advantages of people going smoke-free,” said Kelly Rice, a community health specialist with the Tobacco Free Missoula program at the Missoula City-County Health Department.
“That tells you that people are paying attention, when so many people pick the day of the Smokeout to quit,” said Mary McCourt, a senior community health specialist. “It's a very successful quit date.”
There's a host of reasons for quitting smoking - health, finances and appearance merely start the list. But, Rice and McCourt said, people have to find their own reasons.
If you're looking for reasons, consider the following:
Who will support your family if you die an early death from smoking?
Have children? Did you know they're more likely to smoke if you do, are more prone to ear infections, colds and allergies, and often lag behind their friends in both height and reading ability.
Within 20 minutes of quitting cigarettes, your blood pressure returns to normal. Within 24 hours, your risk of heart attack starts dropping. After just two days without cigarettes, smoke-free nerve endings begin to grow and your sense of smell and taste improve.
Finally, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women.
Paradise Falls went smoke-free Oct. 1. The restaurant could have applied for an exception to the new Montana Clean Indoor Air Act - which, in general, bans smoking in most places of employment - but instead opted to go smoke-free.
“About 80 percent of Montanans don't smoke, so they've decided to cater to that percentage of the population,” Rice said. “That makes sense, doesn't it? I think the decision to be smoke-free is getting pretty good reviews wherever it's been done.”
The push to have smoke-free buildings drew a little more impetus recently with the results of a study out of Pueblo, Colo. The study, like one conducted in Helena after that city enacted a ban on public indoor smoking, found a decrease in hospitalizations for heart attacks concurrent with a ban on public indoor smoking. The Colorado study was more comprehensive than the Helena study and took place over a long period of time.
“These studies are finding an immediate and sustained reduction in heart attacks directly tied to efforts to cut smoking indoors,” Rice said. “The effects are immediate.”
For Rice and McCourt, the new study and businesses like Paradise Falls going smoke-free are reason to celebrate.
“It's been an effective campaign in regards to smoking, but there are always more people who could quit,” McCourt said.
If they quit Thursday, they can get a sandwich along with better health.
Reporter Michael Moore can be reached at 523-5252 or at mmoore@missoulian.com
Call and quit
Thursday is the Great American Smokeout. Montana has a free “quit line” for smokers looking for a little more support as they try to quit smoking: 1-866-485-7848.
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