The July edition of "Pediatrics"

reports a study in the Boston-Providence area where parental smoking was

reduced by about one-third upon installation of nicotine alarms in the

homes and subsequent motivational interviewing of parents, in which the

goal was to avoid overt persuasion but instead provide information that

might make people change their behavior.

Gadgets the preferred American

way of troubleshooting to escape personal responsibility (other examples:

the V-chip, radar detectors in cars, hidden cameras). All that is garbage;

it's pure self-deception revealing a lack of will, commitment or capacity

to head-on deal with a problem.

The solution is simple: If

you can't kick your habit, smoke on the porch. It's that simple. And for

those of you vacationing in North Dakota don't forget wrapping yourself

in three layers of coats, slam muffs on your nose, ear and chin in January

and tell your spouse to better check on you if you haven't reported back

in more than 10 minutes.

Günther Rückl

[email protected]

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