LIHUE — The goal of Ha Breath of Fresh Air is to help those who made New Year’s resolutions to get off tobacco, said Val Saiki of the Coalition for Tobacco-Free Hawaii. “Of course, we’re always looking for people who
LIHUE — The goal of Ha Breath of Fresh Air is to help those who made New Year’s resolutions to get off tobacco, said Val Saiki of the Coalition for Tobacco-Free Hawaii.
“Of course, we’re always looking for people who want to get off tobacco, but for those who need help keeping their New Year’s resolutions to get off tobacco, we’re here,” Saiki said. “This is the second event during the holidays. The first was the Great American Smokeout where we distributed Quick Kits at Kalapaki Joe’s in Nawiliwili on Dec. 19.”
Saiki said normally the Great American Smokeout is hosted in November, but in light of people thinking of giving up smoking as a New Year’s resolution, moved the Kauai event to closer to the holidays.
Saiki said Quick Kits were available for tobacco, which she saidare not restricted to just cigarettes, but encompasses chewing tobacco, cigars and pipes.
“We had a good number of people during our appearance at the Ha coffee shop during the four hours we spent there,” Saiki said. “Some of the people called for directions because they knew we were going to be there and wanted to meet with us. We wanted a lot of the college-aged kids, who according to text messages, appear to gather at Ha.”
Saiki said a lot of the people who visited at the Ha location were former smokers who participated in the Breathalizer test to see if their lungs had cleared.
“They were surprised when most of them registered ‘zero,’” Saiki said.
Visit www.tobaccofreehawaii.org for more information.
• Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
