Smoking cessation clinic set

By Jim Tiffin
Staff Writer

Smoking is finding a new surge in the youth of America. To combat this problem in young and old smokers, Future Foundations Family Center will offer a smoking cessation class Jan. 20 in Grants. (Photo by Jerry Wilson/Independent)

GRANTS — Smokers who are seeking help stopping the addicting habit will be able to attend a series of smoking cessation workshops beginning Jan. 20.

The classes are sponsored by the Future Foundations Family Center as part of a New Mexico Department of Health, Tobacco Use Prevention and Control $50,000 grant, Lori Malaj, director of the center said.

As of Monday, 15 people had registered, A total of 20 will be taken in the class, Malaj said.

The classes are part of an ongoing program of anti-tobacco use programs and projects the center and its Youth Council are working on, Malaj said.

A class for teens is also in the works, but the center is having problems recruiting teenagers who have a desire to stop smoking, she said.

"The ill effects of smoking haven't hit them at this age yet so they aren't interested in stopping smoking," Malaj said.

"We contacted the Progressive Learning Center, whose teachers were interested, but they couldn't find any teens who were interested," she said.

The center has used a booth at the Halloween carnival and another booth at the New Mexico State University-Grants campus career day, to pass out brochures and literature about stopping smoking, all of which were part of the grant.

The Youth Council is also planning a project to coincide with the national "Kick Butts" day, April 13. A day in which people are asked to quit smoking on a nationwide basis, Malaj said.

"We don't know what we are going to do yet. We want to see what everyone else is doing first," she said.

In the center's "Creative Activities" class, Malaj is inserting information and plans to include games and puzzles all aimed at teaching about the ill effects of smoking to the youth who are attending after school.

The classes that begin Jan. 20 will include information on how to plan a supportive environment for quitting, identifying the dangers of smoking, good stress management, weight control, assertive communication and exercise.

Each smoker in the class will develop an individual plan for stopping smoking.

The deadline to register is Friday. Anyone interested in signing up is asked to contact the center at 285-3542 or go in person to the center at 551 Washington Ave.

— To contact reporter Jim Tiffin call 287-2197 or e-mail: jtiffin@blackmesa-isp.net.