Quitting: It's such a drag Part One: Meet the smokers

DURHAM -- Health care experts estimate 70 per cent of smokers want to kick their addiction.

Statistics say that left to their own devices, only about seven per cent will achieve success long term. In comparison, the data suggests that 30 per cent of smokers who seek help from health care professionals manage to become smoke free.

Metroland Durham Region Media Group wanted to test that theory -- and help stack the odds in favour of some Durham residents who desperately want to butt out.

We asked local smokers to tell us their stories and were overwhelmed with more than 100 phone calls and e-mails in 48 hours. Three participants were chosen to take part in a six-week quitting challenge.

Experts from the Durham Region Smoking Cessation Network -- a group of local pharmacists, nurses, doctors and dentists who are passionate about helping people quit -- will be providing the participants with resources, guidance and support. We will be bringing you their stories in print and online at www.newsdurhamregion.com every Wednesday throughout August, with a final update in September.

Meet the smokers:

Marven Whidden

Age 46

Clarington resident

When Marven Whidden wakes up in the morning, he spends a few minutes coughing and hacking. Walking up two flights of stairs is enough to leave him winded.

At Toronto Hydro where he works, he is one of only two people in a department of 50 who smokes, leaving him feeling like "a leper."

At home in Bowmanville, he spends a lot of time in his garage, because it's the only place he can light up.

"I really, really want to quit," says the 46-year-old husband and father of two teenagers. "I want to live to see my grandkids. I don't want my kids to smoke. Some of my daughter's friends do. How can I tell her not to, when I do?"

Mr. Whidden has tried drugs like Zyban and Champix but says in one case he wasn't in the right mindset, and in the other he got scared off by warnings on the medication.

"I'm ready to do it this time," he says.

Sherrie Webber

Age 26

Oshawa resident

Sherrie's mom was only 49 when she passed away last year, after a gruelling battle with lung cancer.

"You would think after watching her go through that, I would be able to quit," says the 26-year-old. "My mom asked me to promise her I would quit, and I've tried. But I can't."

Ms. Webber has smoked since she was about 13, saying the stress of her grandmother's death got her started.

Over the years, the Oshawa woman has made four quit attempts, mostly trying to do it cold turkey. She doesn't like the idea of patches and has heard that nicotine gum tastes horrible.

"Right now, I smoke about two packs a day. It's a lot," she says. "I smoke when I get up in the morning, when I'm getting ready to go out somewhere, after I finish eating, when I pick up the phone. It's hurting my health ... every morning when I get up, I cough for an hour and a half straight."

Ms. Webber lives with her father and sister in Oshawa and says she has their support, as well as that of her boyfriend.

"Everyone really wants me to do this."

John Hatch

Age 18

Oshawa resident

When John started smoking in Grade 10, it was because everyone around him -- from his parents to his friends -- was puffing away.

"I was always curious about it, I saw all the warnings that said it was bad, but I didn't care," he says. "It was a stupid thing to do."

Now, he's hooked, smoking a little over half a pack a day. John figures he would probably smoke more if he could afford it, but about a quarter of the money he makes working at Halenda's Meats already goes to buying smokes. He says it's money he could be putting towards what he really wants -- a car of his own.

"I've tried a couple of times to quit, I used the patch, but it was really hard," John says. "I would be hanging out with my friends and they would all be smoking and I would just say, whatever, I'm not doing this."

John recently turned 18 and will be starting at Durham College in the fall. He figures that milestone into adulthood presents a good opportunity to butt out for good.

"I see what this has done to my parents' health and I don't want that to be me," he said. "I think I can do it this time."