Sarah Waters, a former smoker, battled addiction for 27 years. Today, she’s a tireless champion of ending tobacco sales in grocery stores. Her personal experience serves as a poignant reminder of the challenges associated with smoking and the importance of preventative measures to deter new smokers. Waters began smoking at the youthful age of 11 when she stole a cigarette from her father’s carton. By the time she hit 13, she was a full-fledged smoker.
Waters’ path to becoming a former smoker took more than 30 years and many more years and attempts–over 10–trying to quit smoking for good. It has therefore been 11 years since she had her last puff. Her story is a powerful reminder of the importance—and urgency—of advancing robust public health initiatives. Together, these initiatives will save our children and grandchildren from the harm of tobacco use.
The Impact of Early Smoking
Reflecting on her early experiences with cigarettes, Waters noted that at the time, there was little information about the dangers of smoking.
“When I started smoking, there was no information about the dangers,” – Sarah Waters
She remembered the same tactics in tobacco advertising that strove to recruit teens and tweens, introducing smoking as sophisticated and attractive.
“It was actually advertised in teenage magazines … all the movie stars, models had them. It was cool, it was prestigious,” – Sarah Waters
Waters believes that measures restricting tobacco sales in easily accessible locations like supermarkets could significantly reduce the number of young people starting to smoke.
The Struggles of Addiction
Waters was open about her experiences with addiction to smoking. She described how it affected her quality of life, stating, “I couldn’t enjoy life, like every time I laughed, I’d go into a coughing fit. It became anti-social, and it got really expensive as well.”
Looking back on all her failed attempts to quit through the years, she’d discovered the reason that finally inspired her to succeed. To anyone else dealing with the same obstacles, she advises using every resource at your disposal and putting yourself around positive, uplifting people.
“Use whatever resource you can, just to keep going. And surround yourself with people who want you to give up as well.” – Sarah Waters
Her story is an inspiration as well, as she fought her own battle against smoking. Fundamentally, it highlights the need for strong societal support to overcome tobacco addiction.
Advocacy for Change
As debates rage around the advanced restrictions on tobacco sales, public health advocates are mobilizing in support of Waters’ mission. Mark Brooke, a representative from a tobacco control foundation, stated that prioritizing community health over profits is essential in reducing tobacco consumption.
“Putting profit ahead of the community’s health is something that the foundation is asking all good corporate citizens to reconsider,” – Mark Brooke
He focused on the importance of limiting points of sale for tobacco products. This cost-effective strategy can make a big dent in the fight against smoking.
“By removing as many of those points of sale or limiting those points of sale, is a really important part of the solution. It’s not the solution, but it’s an important part of the solution,” – Mark Brooke
James Durl, a fellow tobacco control advocate, concurred. He stressed the need for proactive strategies. Together, these strategies should make smoking far less visible and far less appealing for everyone who hasn’t yet started.
“The idea of a tactic like this is to keep it out of sight and out of hands of people who haven’t started smoking,” – James Durl
Durl thinks these actions would be one of the most powerful forces against normalizing smoking to kids. They would likely result in lower consumption rates across society as a whole.
