• 11/18/2004
  • Newark, OH
  • Melissa Knific
  • Newark Advocate

Sarah Pastorius, 15, doesn’t smoke because she’d rather spend her money on a car than cigarettes.

Shaylynn Whetstone, 16, decided not to do it because she’s allergic.

Gary Dennis, 62, quit after he was diagnosed with throat cancer.

“You don’t know how many times I think about what I’d done and what I’d almost done to my family,” he said.

The three Licking County residents, along with people across the country, will join together in support of today’s 28th Annual Great American Smokeout, an initiative by the American Cancer Society to educate the public on the risks of tobacco use.

Becky Voris, a health educator for Licking County, hopes people will also use it as a day to quit smoking forever. On Wednesday, she was one of the guest speakers for the Just Say No Club at John Clem Elementary School.

Several events will be held nationwide today for the Smokeout, including Blow Bubbles Not Smoke in Columbus. Activities are planned on the Statehouse lawn from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., including free “cold- turkey” sandwiches to those who turn in their cigarettes and exhibit booths for cessation providers.

This year alone, the American Cancer Society estimates nearly 174,000 new cases of lung cancer will be diagnosed in the United States, and almost 160,000 people will die.

Dennis, of Hanover, admits he came close to experiencing death, but is glad he survived and is able to tell his story.

“About six years ago, my wife thought I had laryngitis,” he told the John Clem fourth-grade students Wednesday.

Instead, Dennis’s faint voice persisted for three weeks, and finally his wife, Linda Dennis, 57, arranged a doctor’s appointment in Newark. From there, he was sent to an oncologist, who diagnosed him with a malignant tumor in his throat.

A few days later, Dennis underwent a 12-hour surgery in Columbus, where he had part of his vocal cord and 38 lymph nodes removed. In addition, Dennis also underwent 40 radiation treatments.

Luckily, doctors were able to rebuild part of his vocal cord, enabling him to speak softly — at least part of the time.

“There are times in the day I wake up for two hours and can’t talk,” he said.

And when he can speak, he tells his story in hopes it will deter those who hear him away from smoking.

On Wednesday, he relayed to kids the dangers of tobacco use. He explained a cigarette contains nearly 4,000 chemicals, and up to 65 of those can cause cancer.

Also visiting the class was a group of Newark High School students, including Pastorius and Whetstone. They represent an organization called Pride, which is similar to Just Say No, but at a higher level.

The Ohio Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation issued a grant to the Licking County Tobacco-Free Coalition, providing local people the opportunity to attend prevention and cessation classes. Voris, co-chair of the coalition, attended John Clem as part of the initiative.

“We need to get at them at an early age,” she said.

Part of the school-age education combines games with smoking information to help the children better understand the effects of tobacco use.

One strong visual is the “tar jar,” a glass container filled with a brown, gooey substance. It represents the amount of tar that would enter a person’s body after smoking one pack of cigarettes per day for a year.

“Once they see that, it really hits them,” she said.

After Wednesday’s club meeting, several Just Say No members explained why they won’t smoke.

Jeffrey Maynard, 9, of Newark, said he’s afraid of ruining his health and said if someone starts, it’s difficult to stop.

Nine-year-old Karlee Brown, of Newark, is also committed to living her life smoke-free.

“I don’t want to die at an early age,” she said.

Others explained how they’ve seen family members lose their lives to cigarette smoking.

Dennis told students that he wished he would have listened to those who asked him to quit. For 35 years, he smoked 2 1/2 packs per day.

“It’s not worth the risk,” he said. “Don’t gamble on it.”