Smoking was much more than an addiction in the 70's and 80's.  It was a fashion statement and a lifestyle accessory.  Airplanes were smoking sections or second hand smoke sections.  That's what we were: smokers or non-smokers at that time, as restaurant tables and all nightclubs and bars were just that. 

Some of my habit was job related - flight crew with Canadian Pacific Airlines, so for decades my smokes were duty free or really cheap.  Some of my habit was culturally shaped as I lived in Japan from the mid 1980's through the mid 1990's when I quit that job and moved to New Zealand.  I never really gave smoking that much of a thought.  I just did it in that I was a smoker married to a non-smoker.  I was sensitive to non-smokers in that I did not smoke in my home or cars and always tried to be downwind of those whom the joy of tobacco was lost.  I was and would remain a passive addict until 2010.

My wife and I moved back to Canada from New Zealand in late 2007 and for some reason it seemed that in my absence from Canada, smoking had become unfashionable or very difficult to enjoy, even moderately.  Perhaps it was just something that I had grown tired of?  Or could no longer justify the $10.00 a pack.  Whatever it was, the seed had been planted.  Now, how would I quit?  Choices abound in most things in these times we are living in and the cessation of smoking is no exception.

I had a million reasons to start smoking and now some 35 years later, as many reasons to stop.  Which would fit my addictive behaviours and obsessive compulsive makeup?  Well, I quit drinking and substance abuse in 1991 with AA,  a 12-step program based on abstinence that has served me well without mishap for almost 20 years.  To that end, I was not going to quit a 35+ year nicotine/smoking habit by using nicotine, was I?  Gee... Stop drinking when you are an alcoholic by lowering your intake?  Maybe for some, not for me.

If you could remove all physical craving, would you not be putting yourself in a much better position to stop?  If you could remove, as if by magic, that all powerful voice telling you that if you stop you will die, or perhaps that you might just well go insane.  I have heard that voice, many a time, and a few times to the detriment of loved ones.  Smokers, imagine if you can a flight from Vancouver to Tokyo.  Ahh... 10 hours you say, no problem with nicotine gum, maybe a patch, no worries?  Now add the additional security and check-in and then a short connection time as well.  So I cannot have a quick smoke in Tokyo before getting on my Auckland portion for yet another 10 hours+?  Well, maybe you can.  I did, but only barely and as I said to the detriment of not only myself, but to Cheryl, my non-smoking wife.  Miserable?  I was much worse than just miserable, believe me.

Magic?  Well, it was for me at any rate.  A local Vernon radio personality (Brian Martin - Sun FM) was doing a personal endorsement for HealthPoint Laser Clinic in Kelowna and he sounded very convincing, and - even by radio standards - sincere.  I checked both Brian and HealthPoint out and made my choice to go ahead and book the session.  Easy?  Well, yes... it was pretty easy, but having said that, I really wanted to stop.  My reasons were very real because they were mine.  Scott Fader responded quickly to my e-mail.  He gave me available appointments, all the required directions and prices, and all that was required was for me to show up for the appointment.  Relaxed... that is how hard HealthPoint laser therapy is.  The intensity of a 1 hour suntan bed session.  Talk - relaxation music and the clicking of the small laser device as I look over the Kelowna lakeshore through sunglasses.  I am nearly asleep and that was that.  Get a few supplements and a couple of affirmation type CD's to smooth the path a little, and I was out the door.  That was 3 months ago yesterday. 

I was a smoker, but now I no longer have any desire to smoke, almost as if I never had.