Behind the restaurant sits a red milk crate, probably a popular makeshift seat. Cigarette butts are scattered on the ground, identifying it as a smoking zone. Workers sneak out whenever there is a spare moment to take a drag. A then 16-year-old Ken Drew accepts a cigarette a cook offers him, a Camel Light. He lights the cigarette. A few coughs do not hold him back. He musters the “coolness” to finish the cigarette.
“Everyone who was cool smoked,” said Drew, a media studies junior. “It was a kind of rebellious thing.”
The habit progressed and he evolved into a Marlboro Red man. That was 25 years ago, but today marks a change. Drew has not smoked for eight months. He kicked the habit with the help of the tobacco patch.
University Health Services along with University Counseling Services offers cessation and counseling groups to the USM community waiting to quit, but Drew felt he would not fare well in a 12-step program. He wanted to create his own challenge.
The patch works to reduce the amount of nicotine in the body, said Carri Nix Kivela, nurse practitioner. The doses of nicotine decrease per week of usage, she said.
Drew can breathe easier knowing he has made a life change, especially on Nov. 21, which is the Great American Smoke-Out. The day recognizes the importance of and the ability to quit tobacco.
In the beginning of Drew’s smoking career, he smoked to fit in with the crowd he was hanging around with.
“When you’re a kid and you first drink coffee, you think ‘Yuck.’ You don’t like it. But you get used to it and can’t live without it,” Drew said.
He didn’t enjoy smoking, but it gradually turned into a pack a day addiction.
Quitting lingered in his mind. He tried to quit a few times and went “cold turkey” but for stress-related reasons was not able to follow through.
Drew knew it was an unhealthy habit, but never planned time to quit. He began the quitting process when he felt ready.
“When I visited the doctor I would get that knowing look about my smoking.”
It was a routine, and with any new change of venue came a cigarette.
“A lot of places it [smoking] became part of the action: Getting in the car, you light a cigarette. Pick up the phone, you light a cigarette.”
He was once part of the smoking group who huddled near the entranceways, dropping butts around the doors and next to the ashtrays.
“It feels pretty pitiful when you are outside in the cold and rain, getting drenched and smoking that pitiful cigarette.”
Yet evolving into the non-smoking routine does have its downfalls in the beginning.
“The worst is the craving for a cigarette, but they last for a few seconds,” he said. “You just have to learn to control it.”
Drew continues with his daily patterns, but there are always moments reminding him to smoke.
“Fortunately I haven’t had a lot of papers. When I sat down at the computer and worked on a paper, I would fill an ashtray without even thinking about it.”
Drew plans to take it one step at a time. He tries to fill the minute that used to be spent smoking a cigarette by walking his dog or even brushing his teeth.
The money saved from a pack that costs $6 will be put towards a vacation fund, he said.
There is still part of Drew that wants a cigarette once a day. The triggers are present: finishing a big meal, having a beer, getting angry about something or getting on the turnpike.
“No matter how strong they are, they are short. I can battle them with nicotine gum and Tic Tacs.”
Drew said anyone who wants to quit can, it is just a matter of perseverance.
“You have to do it for yourself. You can’t do it for someone else.”
Drew was hooked on the cigarette merchandise promotions. He quit during the end of a Marlboro gear promotion. Each cigarette pack’s UPC code was worth five points, he said.
Over the years Drew has collected Marlboro watches, jackets and tents. These items are a mere reminder of the period when he smoked. Quitting for Drew proves that he can make positive changes in his life one vice at a time.
“It’s funny because they [Marlboro] deal with this outdoorsy stuff. But you’re coughing your guts up while walking up the mountain. They should give you a respirator when you cash in your Marlboro miles.”