Thursday, November 11, 1999 Older Editions

Kick the butts

By Neil Fater

One-third fewer people could die of cancer if everyone stopped using tobacco products, says the American Cancer Society.

But while such statistics are frequently marshaled to convince smokers to quit, there are still plenty of Andover people who may never try out the annual Great American Smokeout. This year's Smokeout is scheduled for next Thursday, Nov. 18.

"The more they try to make me quit, the more I don't want to quit," says Rose Vandewalle, the telephone operator and receptionist at Town Offices whose distinctive voice greets dozens of people each day. "I've had it up to my ears listening to all the baloney."

Vandewalle has smoked cigarettes for more than 35 years and appears to view the Great American Smokeout as neither great, nor particularly American. Like some other smokers, she still resents being banned from smoking in public places since Andover adopted a no-smoking bylaw in 1994. Massachusetts followed suit last year.

Vandewalle says that while states claim they are winning settlements against tobacco companies, it is really the average smoker who will pay for the settlements in the form of higher prices.

"It's all taxes and unfair taxation just because some do-gooders want us to quit. What do they care? They don't pay for it," she says. "I don't ask other people to take care of their habits. I mind my own business. They're taking away our rights to give someone else their rights."

But if Vandewalle and others remain somewhat resentful of anti-smoking efforts, the Cancer Society is proud that adult smoking has declined from 35 to 24 percent since the Smokeout started in 1977. It believes it has helped the country become a healthier place to live.

Yet there is still plenty of reason for people to stop smoking, it says. One in five Americans still die every year from tobacco use, claims the Society, adding that 53,000 people die annually from second-hand smoke.

Children of parents who smoke suffer from increased ear infections and asthma, says Ginny MacDonald, a regional ACS communications executive. All of these are reasons for public outrage, she says.

But Vandewalle says she's heard such statistics before, and is unconvinced.

"I've raised two children, healthy as can be. If that were true, my sons would have been affected and they're not. I don't need any other proof," she says before laughing, "Plus, a lot of these people who are complaining would be dead."

"If people don't want to believe that, you can't make them believe it. But the data's very compelling," says Diane Pickles, Andover's Healthy Communities program director.

Pickles says that before a smoking ban was instituted in San Francisco, 74 percent of bartenders there reported having respiratory problems such as wheezing, shortness of breath or morning cough. After the ban was instituted, 23 percent of those who earlier had problems reported that they no longer did, she says.

"If second-hand smoke were merely an annoyance, boards of health would not be regulating it," she says. "Obviously, not everyone is going to get asthma or bronchitis, but studies consistently show that there's higher rates of those illnesses among those exposed to second-hand smoke."

Help available

While Vandewalle may argue the dangers of second-hand smoke, even she admits she's tried to quit in the past, because of the danger to herself -- and because "they must have been after me at that time too."

"But I find it relaxes me," she says of smoking. "I gave up on trying to quit because I know I can't. It's too late for me to quit. If I'm going to die, I'm going to die of something. My day will come like anyone else's."

But the American Cancer Society says that stopping smoking has almost immediate benefits. After 24 hours of smoke-free living, a person's chance of a heart attack decreases, for instance.

A quick trip around the downtown during any brisk autumn afternoon reveals plenty of smokers on the steps of homes or under the awnings of businesses burning butts. Pickles indicates many want help in stopping.

"We're always seeing people looking to quit," says Pickles. "It's very hard to quit smoking. There's some people who will probably never quit. But I think there are other people who have tried many times to quit, and anything that serves as a reminder, or plants a seed with people is a good thing."

Healthy Communities will provide information on smoking cessation programs at both Town Offices and the school administration building on Nov. 18 for the Great American Smokeout. There will also be kits to help smokers keep their homes and cars smoke-free for others.

For more information call (978) 749-8999.