“Smoke out” event to provide support, education

Approximately 24.8 percent of college students aged 18-22 years old were current smokers in 2010, according to the to the 2012 Surgeon General’s Report on tobacco use among youth and young adults.

University of Rhode Island students and staff at the Anna Fascitelli Fitness and Wellness Center are taking a stand to combat that statistic at their first annual “Great American Smokeout” event on November 19.

The event is part of a national campaign by the American Cancer Society that is hosted nationally every year to help people get educated about the dangers of smoking, and give them ample resources to help them quit.

URI’s Smokeout events, in partnership with URI Health Services and the American society for Health-System Pharmacists, are separated into two parts. From 3-5 p.m. Health Services staff will man booths in the main entrance of the Memorial Union to provide education about smoking and promote the later events at the Wellness Center.

From 5:30-7 p.m., during the regularly scheduled “Thirsty Thursday” slot, the gym will host a succession of booths manned by Fitwell staff and Health Services personnel. At these booths will be different resources for students talking about smoking and information on cession groups to help people quit.

URI senior dietetics major Natalie Weisfeld, a member of the Fitwell staff, and one of the event’s organizers, said that students will be able to explore different topics concerning smoking. They include mental health, nutrition, women’s health, and fitness. There will be pamphlets, handouts, options for counseling, and overall education, she said.

“My mom smoked,” Weisfeld said, and added that second hand smoke is an aspect that people don’t tend to think about. “It’s really important to make people realize that you might think it makes you look cool, but you’re really not. You’re doing harm to yourself and the people around you.”

Roger Jadosz, a Nurse at Health Services, said that programs like these are the best way to help students quit because they give a wide range of knowledge, or “tools in their kit” to help them be successful in quitting smoking.

“There are absolutely no benefits to smoking other than the money the tobacco industry makes off of it,” said Jadosz. He added that it’s not limited to cigarettes either, and that “dip, e-cigarettes, vapes, and chewing tobacco are also part of the problem. It’s something you can’t do in moderation.”

Jadosz said that at the event, there will be lots of visuals to show the true impacts of smoking, including a pig lung that inflates and deflates. He said that amongst the numbers of visuals, one of the most interesting ones is the marketing for cigarettes around the world. In other countries, the Surgeon General’s warnings are bigger than the brand name of cigarettes on the carton, he said.

Jadosz is an ex-smoker himself, and hopes that people get motivated to quit by attending the program. “It’s a difficult process, don’t give up on [yourself]. In some cases it takes several attempts to successfully quit,” he said.

Weisfeld said that for her, it’s not just about getting people to quit, but to raise awareness and educate people.

“If this program ends and three to four people think [smoking] is really bad for you, it’d be a success,” she said. “Go for someone you love, if not for yourself. They will benefit from quitting.”