Staff Writer

ONEONTA —They've tried everything — patches, gums, hypnotism, even a pickup truck.

But they don't always work, according to some who've tried to quit smoking.

"My uncle offered me a pickup truck to quit, and I couldn't do it," said Oneonta resident Amy Edmondson, who said she has smoked for eight years.

Today is the Great American Smokeout, a national event held each year on the third Thursday in November, aimed at helping smokers kick the habit for at least one day, according to the American Cancer Society.

Bassett Healthcare's Regional Cancer Program and area smoking-cessation groups are setting up informational tables throughout the area. The Rural Three for Tobacco-Free Communities, a coalition of organizations from Delaware, Otsego and Schoharie counties, is setting up a table at Hannaford in Oneonta, among other places, that will offer carbon monoxide testing and information about quitting.

"It's an effective tool to demonstrate to smokers the immediate effects tobacco has on their body and their health," Bassett Health Educator Alicia Fish, adding that they expect 100 to 200 people to stop by and 50 to 75 people to be tested.

The Rural Three also offers smoking-cessation classes and resources throughout the year, and has started a series of anti-smoking commercials.

"The one spot that we've particularly had some response to is the spot that talks about a smoking section in a restaurant and equates that to having a non-peeing section in a pool," Fish said. "Tobacco smoke does not contain itself to just one section in a building."

Smoking-cessation groups say it's difficult to estimate how many smokers quit following cessation programs. The Otsego County Smoking Cessation Program, funded by $100,000 from the 2000 tobacco settlement, served 142 patients, according to Dr. Anne Gadomski, an attending pediatrician at Bassett Healthcare.

However, funding ran out in August, she said, and the Otsego County Tobacco Task Force — which is managed by Bassett Healthcare — has asked the Otsego County Board of Directors for additional funds.

That program, Gadomski said, had a 30 percent quit rate over nine months. But it's hard to get an exact count of how many people have quit, she said, since longtime smokers are at high risk to relapse.

"It takes about seven times before you finally quit," Gadomski said. "It really is a hard addiction. It takes a lot of work."

SUCO student Mike LeDoux, who said he has smoked for 10 years, has tried to quit three times, the longest for five months. He said he used the nicotine patch once, which helped deal with cravings.

"The patch was a nice physical and mental aid," he said. "I went back because addiction is deceptive."