Smoke-free for 21 days

This week the public will be given a chance to voice their opinions about the town of Rainy River going smoke free.
It has been a controversial subject in many circles across the region, but now communities have started passing smoke-free bylaws and finding that there was less resistance than they thought there could be.
How will it play out in Rainy River? I have had many conversations about the subject with local people, some saying that they would whole heartedly welcome the move to go smoke free, while others feeling like the government is yet again snuffing out their rights to do what they want whenever and wherever they want.
We know that smoking is bad for us. We know that it causes cancer. We know that second hand smoke is bad for us non-smokers too. So why then is there a resistance to going smoke-free?
Perhaps it is because humans are creatures of habit. It is hard to change habits that have been in existence for more than 100 years.
However I recently attended a motivational seminar that said it takes 21 days for new habits to form. In other words people need to do something different for 21 days before it becomes habit forming.
Perhaps we should follow in the footsteps of Robin’s Donuts in Fort Frances and try going smoke-free for 21 days. Perhaps the resistance to the idea, once it has become habit will be less than some of us think it will be.
–Until then,
Ken