Teens Smoking Cuts in Half

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Keaton Thompson used to consider himself an athletic person, but that was before he started smoking.

“I used to be very active into sports… now i barely can run a mile without running out of air, ” said Keaton Thompson, smoker trying to quit.

Thompson lit up his first cigarette at the age of 16, when some of his friends offered him one.

Now, 6 years later, he looked back to his life and decided it is time for change.

“I’ve been progressing to make my life go somewhere, but it is at a halt right now because of my decisions and wasting my money,” said Thompson.

A new study by the Utah Department of Health says that more than fifty percent of Utah teen smokers quit in the last decade.

Teenagers or even adults that want to quit can now do it by a phone help-line, webpages and even free classes.

Marissa Patterson teaches an addiction recovery class called END (End Nicotine Dependance) at the Utah County Health Department. She says that personal motivation is the reason teenagers are putting their lighters away.

“You can’t make anyone quit, one of the goals of the class is to give them the tools to quit so when they are ready to quit, they know what to do,” said Marissa Patterson.

One of the tricks they teach in these classes is to take the money you would spend on a package of cigarettes, put it in an envelope, seal it, and burn it.

Recognizing where cigarette money is really going can help ease the withdrawals. However, any former smoker will recommend just to never lite up in the first place.

“It’s not worth your health, especially if you are an active kid playing sports, looking for scholarships and stuff like that, it just gets you into trouble, your life just goes down the drain,” said Thompson.

For additional tips or help to quit smoking in visit the webpage utah.quitnet.com

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