A Chetwynd man who participated in the QuitNow B.C. Campaign to quit smoking has won $2,500 in cash from the B.C. Lung Association. Doug Stewart was selected out of 850 men who participated in the Cold Turkey No More campaign, in partnership with Northern Health.
The campaign ran from Feb. 1 to 7, and challenged men to quit for the full week. It was done in tandem with the launch of QuitNowMen.ca, a website designed to give men tools to help cut smoking out of their lives.
Stewart said that while winning the money was nice, he was happy to have cut smoking out of his life for the sake of his health and his family.
"I would encourage anyone trying to quit to give it your best shot," he said. "You might not be successful the first time, but persistence will pay off."
The campaign was province-wide, but focused specifically on Northern B.C. men, among whom smoking rates are particularly high.
According to Northern Health, 70 per cent of smokers want to quit, and the success rate for quitting increases the more attempts are made.
B.C.'s Smoking Cessation program provides up to 12 weeks of nicotine replacement therapy products for free. Anyone interested in quitting can call HealthLink B.C. at 811 for more information.
