Our coalition knows how important it is for people who quit smoking to stay quit.  A common trigger, a reason people start smoking again, is exposure to social smoking.  Being in a smoke-free environment helps people who made the health decision to quit smoking continue to stay quit.  Because of this, we would like to highlight Gwen Jones and Chuck Ditto.  We hope that St. Louis City hears these stories and continues to encourage Gwen, Chuck, and other St. Louisans to stay quit by promoting 100% smoke-free bars, restaurants, and casinos.

from the City of St. Louis Newsgram on July 28, 2008

438,000. That's almost 1½ times the population of the entire City of St. Louis. That is also the total number of smoke related deaths that occur every year in this country according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Smoking and Tobacco Use Fact Sheet. It goes on to say that "more deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined." With smoking tied to so many adverse health conditions such as cancer (of various types), stroke, heart attack, infertility and even SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), it's no wonder many people are making the decision to quit.

Such is the case for two very special "Health Heroes" of the City of St. Louis Department of Health and Department of Human Services. Gwen Jones, Public Health Nurse in the Bureau of Family, School and Community Health's Maternal Child Health Program, and Chuck Ditto, Accountant in the Fiscal Division of Human Services, made a life changing decision to kick the habit and embrace better health.

Chuck, who'd been a smoker for 39 years and Gwen, previously a smoker for 35 years share very simlar testimonies of their reason for and motivation to stop the nicotine habit. "Friends and family mentioned to me that they were concerned about my health and that [smoking] was killing me. [They said] I'm too smart to keep doing it," says Chuck. "For me," says Gwen, "the light went on when I was sitting outside at the break table (behind the Health Department) and Melba (Commissioner of Health) walked by and said, 'I know that's not one of my nurses smoking.' That was it. That was what really got me to quit. The same thing that made me start made me stop: peer pressure." And for these two, positive peer pressure and the support of friends and loved ones went a long way. "Without my friends' and family's support and encouragement it wouldn't have been done," Chuck replies.

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