The Allen Carr ?Easy Way to Quit Smoking? workshops with facilitator Damian O?Hara ?are now officially sold out due to an overwhelming response from the public?, said Peter French, of the Bermuda Pharmaceutical Association (BPA) yesterday.

Facilatator Damian O?Hara, speaking from Toronto, said that to his knowledge what the BPA was doing was ?a world?s first?.

The Allen Carr clinic operates in 25 countries around the world and Mr. O?Hara said that he has ?been to most countries doing sessions?.

Mr. O?Hara said the BPA?s approach was ?visionary? was because they were ?looking at nonpharmaceutical approaches,? to quitting smoking.

?The medical establishment uses a drug based approach to quitting smoking,? he said. ?A lot of pharmaceutical associations get someone to hand cheap patches out.... This is leading edge stuff.

He ?took his hat off? to Peter French at the BPA for selling the tickets so quickly.

BPA, in partnership with the Bermuda TB Cancer and Health Association, Open Airways and Argus are subsiding the cost of the clinic from $350 to $170.

?What?s great is that they are putting their money where their mouth is,? Mr. O?Hara added. ?They are not just talking the talk. They are putting their hands in their pockets.

?It is also a really strong indicator to see how serious they are to stop (the way) this terrible drug is affecting Bermudians and their families.?

Mr. French said the groups at the ?stop smoking? clinics were small and personal with ?a maximum of 15 people per day?.

He said he ?never imagined? that it would be as popular as it has been.

Mr. French said both the BPA and he himself had ?underestimated by far the amount of people that want to quit using this method.

As a result of the response, another set of single five-hour workshops has been added and will run between August 14 and 22.

Specific times will be announced closer to those dates.