Smokers who want help with their addiction or an excuse to quit smoking can take part in the Quit Smoking Day Rally later this week.

The Bermuda Advocates for Non-Smoking rally is set to take place in Victoria Park, Cedar Avenue tomorrow between 12.30 p.m. and 1.30 p.m.

The Ministry of Health and Family Services' health promotion co-ordinator, Dr. Leonard Gibbons, said the aim was to help smokers who want to kick the habit.

After the initial rally there will be a two-week course entitled Fresh Start at the Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU).

Dr. Gibbons said the Fresh Start programme helped not only to find the reason why individuals smoked, but also offered support during the first few weeks.

"People can use the patch or other things to help the body deal with withdrawal from nicotine, but unless smokers discover why they smoke in the first place then they often return to smoking or take up other addictions," said Dr. Gibbons.

"Many smokers worry about putting on weight after they stop, and this is usually because they replace one addiction with another.

"I find it is best to deal or get to the real issues and then the addiction pattern is broken."

Dr. Gibbons said many smokers felt that they were okay and that there was no reason to quit.

But he said: "There are good friends and bad friends - cigarettes are not good friends.

"Cigarette smoking kills more people per year than cocaine."

Dr. Gibbons said stopping any addiction was about the change in lifestyle.

"In many cases some smokers are addicted to nicotine and others are set on patterns or habitual smoking," said Dr. Gibbons.

"So we suggest changing rooms around, avoiding alcohol, as it often lowers the senses and avoiding coffee. "There are all sorts of reasons people smoke and it is about finding out why an individual smokes and getting to the bottom of it."

Dr. Gibbons said that a part of his training took him to a rehab centre in America and one day a man addicted to drugs, also stopped smoking cigarettes.

"The man came to the centre with a full carton of cigarettes and he said `I'm here to rid myself of my drug habit, not smoking'.

"He had saunas and light therapy, and we found that he sweated out a lot of nicotine and in a few days he didn't have an urge for cigarettes any more.

"The only thing that particular programme did not do was to find out why people were addicted and how changing their lifestyles would impact upon returning to habits, which were essentially detrimental to their health."

The training course looks at what triggers a person to want a cigarette. "It's very much like a person who is over weight and they eat when they are glad, sad or mad.

"Smokers have associations, when they are feeling stressed, or when they just can't cope with a situation, when they are enjoying a cup of coffee or a drink.

"Sometimes they smoke when they get in the car, or when they sit down to read the newspaper, after a meal etc."

Dr. Gibbons also asks how does smoking affect the world around you.

"Does it affect your children or people sitting next to you in a restaurant?" asked Dr. Gibbons.

"Smokers have to look at their reasons for quitting versus reasons to continue."

"I believe smokers who want kick the habit will benefit from the Quit Smoking Day on Friday."

The Fresh Start Programme takes place in the Gordon Hall, in the BIU building, on Union Street, in Hamilton, on June 3, 5, 10 and 12 between 12 and 1.30 p.m.

The programme, which runs for a fortnight, is free to attend and interested people should call Dr. Gibbons on 239-3428/3491.