Smoking logs, medication, and 'smoking weird' are all strategies for quitting smoking or vaping recommended by Dr. Derek Poteryko, Island Health's medical director of community health.
January 19-25 is National Non-Smoking Week, with Jan. 22 representing 'Weedless Wednesday,' a day when different health organizations including the Canadian Cancer Society and the Heart and Stroke Foundation, challenge smokers to go 24 hours without smoking or vaping.
Poteryko said the event encourages people to talk about the behaviours and negative health consequences.
"It's like a fun day to gamify your perhaps habit addiction, whether it's smoking or vaping, to try for 24 hours not to do it. Just see how dependent or how much you really need it," Poteryko said. "I've had patients in my practice that have done the Weedless Wednesday and they have never looked back, and that's on the smoking side of thing."
In a B.C. adolescent health report released this past summer, 20 per cent of mid-Island youths reported smoking tobacco, a decrease from 26 per cent in 2018, but still above the provincial rate of 15 per cent.
Vaping rates were higher than smoking. Local youths were six per cent above the provincial average, with 32 per cent of local youths having tried vaping, compared to 26 per cent provincially.
For people who aren't ready to quit just yet, Poteryko recommends 'smoking weird', which is where a person changes the behaviour around how they smoke.
"Continue to smoke, but smoke differently. If you smoke with your right hand, smoke with your left hand, if you use a lighter, use matches. If you're vaping, vape with your other hand. Also your favourite place, where you do it."
By doing this, Poteryko said it bubbles up the unconscious habit.
"It starts to ask you, 'What is the behaviour giving you?'"
In some instances, he said smoking may simply represent a break and reward, and isn't about the substance.
"Going outside and having a glass of water or walking around the block could actually be the positive benefit as opposed to the actual smoking."
Another thing people can do is keep a journal that records when a vape or cigarette is used, and how much they need it. Poteryko said this helps differentiate between the smoke breaks the person feels they need, versus habits.
"Just pull out your day and go, 'Oh yeah, interesting. After a meals I do this, or first thing in the morning I definitely need that one. These other ones, they seem to be habits I don't really need them,'" he said. "So you start questioning your own behaviours."
Alongside these strategies, any person in B.C. can get smoking aids from their pharmacy, including nicotine replacement inhalers and patches, as well as medications.
Quitting isn't without its challenges. Poteryko suggests those who want to quit smoking to avoid situations with alcohol, as drinking and smoking tend to go hand-in-hand.
"When alcohol is served, it's very common that tobacco is not far behind," he explained. "The two dopamine-adrenergic actions of those chemicals seem to synergize. So avoiding places where there may be smokers or other implements that make make smoking easy – because you may not have a pack of cigarettes, but 'hold it I can borrow it off of such-and-such here.'"
For online resources, Poteryko recommends https://quitnow.ca, which is delivered by the B.C. Lung Foundation on behalf of the province. The QuitNow B.C. program offers 3-month mobile messaging program which offers texting tips and motivation that aligns with one's quitting date.
