Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (Jan 04/02) - As of this week, it's a safe bet that plenty of Deh Cho residents have resolved not to smoke anymore.

Some will have already broken that resolution by now.

Three years ago, Fort Simpson's Richard Wright, told the Drum he was going to quit smoking. He didn't.

However, he tried again last March and met with more success.

"I was so tired of smoking, I had smoked since I was 16 years old," he said, adding that he still indulges in a cigarette here and there, but nowhere near his former pack-and-a-half per day rate.

"To me, moderation is the key to everything," he said.

Unfortunately, there has been a drawback to quitting.

"The big pay off has been a wider girth," said Wright with a laugh.

"My New Year's resolution this year is to lose weight."

Wright has a support network among his ex-smoking friends, Mike Canney and Gerry McCowan, who also gave up tobacco last year.

In Fort Liard, Mike Drake had already kicked the cigarette habit, which had been part of his life for 20 years.

Last New Year's, he swore he would give up his other nasty practice, smoking cigars. The bad news is that he didn't do it. The good news is that, like Wright, he cut back, from three or four per day to just one each day.

"It's a significant improvement. I'm looking at quitting now, for sure, this New Year's," he said in late December. "This is my opportunity to make it work, hopefully."

According to Drake, the right time to quit is when you're sure you are ready.

"You've got to be willing to do it. If, all of a sudden, you decide that's enough, you can do it," he said.