You pass a public building and see people standing outside to smoke a cigarette. It can be freezing outside and still they go outside for a smoke. Smoking has been banned in all public buildings, including restaurants. It won’t be long before you will not be able to smoke anywhere. I see where they are trying to even ban smoking in all the bars.

What about the casinos where people sit for hours and gamble? Have they banned smoking there, too? That would cut down on the players in the casinos, and not too good for business either. Will we ever have a completely smoke-free environment – including the outdoors? Who knows.

That got me to thinking about my friends who still smoke. Perhaps now would be a good time to quit the habit altogether. I know, you think I am a reformed smoker. Well, I am. I used to smoke but kicked the habit. I smoked a pack a day, but it wasn’t as expensive then either, only 25 cents a pack.

When I quit, I realized that food tasted so much better without the taste of tobacco in my mouth. I missed it for a long time, but when my favorite singer Nat King Cole died of lung cancer, I decided it would probably get me too, so I quit cold turkey. And yes, I did gain weight, but nothing I couldn’t handle after a few months.

I watched my mother-in-law die a miserable death from smoking too much and too long. She had emphysema and fought for every breath she took right up until the day she died, when she could no longer get enough oxygen to breathe. And you know what she said, even when fighting for breath? “I would still like to light up a cigarette. I miss it every day.”

I also understand what it means to a smoker to have that cigarette after a good meal or relaxing with a cup of coffee.

Each year, more than 400,000 Americans die from smoking. Would you believe that one out of every five deaths in the United States is smoking related?

We try to get people to stop smoking and the government passes bills to keep people from smoking inside, and then turns right around and uses our tax dollars to subsidize the tobacco industry. Confusing to say the least.

My niece is a smoker and I have been trying to get her to quit. I talked with her about her smoking and asked if she would really like to quit? She said she wanted to, but it was too expensive to buy the patches she needed for help and that she kept putting it off.

With that thought in mind, I bought her the Nicaderm CQ patches for Christmas, with her doctor’s approval of course. I bought one box of step one and one of step two, with the hope that she would not need the third step.

I was afraid that when she heard the report on TV the other day, about the patches possibly causing cancer, that she would give it up. But, after all, the patches couldn’t be any more harmful that the cigarettes themselves.

For all of those who are still smoking, I hope you try to quit real soon. But I certainly understand if you don’t, having been on both sides.

I took care of my mother-in-law during her last few years of life and it is not a pretty sight to watch someone die from lack of oxygen. Think about it. It is a matter of life and death – yours.

Betty Kuhn, of Boardman, can be contacted at bkuhn_1@Msn.com or the East Oregonian, P.O. Box 1089, Pendleton, OR 97801.