February is a critical period for those who made a New Year’s resolution to quit smoking. (image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Feb. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Many smokers make a New Year’s resolution to quit smoking. They visit and register at smoking clinics to help quit.
Smoking clinics provide 12 weeks of nicotine supplements, such as patches and gum, as well as chiropractors, toothpaste, toothbrush, and mouthwash for free.
Despite their effort to quit smoking, most fail due to work stress. Those who fail at their resolution typically plan to retry their efforts to stop smoking.
According to data compiled by the Korea Health Promotion Institute on Saturday, the number of people registered at smoking clinics stood at 40,754 nationwide in January, which is the highest number of the year.
In February, however, the number dropped sharply to 25,500, 62 percent lower than the previous month. Although people show a high willingness to quit smoking in the New Year, many people start giving up after a month or so.
February is a critical period for those who made a New Year’s resolution to quit smoking, as many succumb to the temptation to smoke, which overcomes their will power.
The period for each health center to manage non-smoking candidates is six months.
After this period, one has to be tested for nicotine reaction, and if the result shows negative, it is deemed that the individual has successfully quit smoking.
Those who answer ‘not smoking’ over the phone are also counted as having successfully stopped smoking.
In order for smokers to quit, it is important for a smoke-free environment to be created. It is also important to remove any traces related to cigarettes and stay away from smoking areas.
It would be helpful to create a ‘helper’ that can support and help when trying to quit smoking.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
