For smokers, holidays can be a tough time to quit

The holiday season is a time of eating and drinking with friends, making it a challenging time to try to quit smoking. 
    
Marie Cashin has been smoking for 12 years. She says when she's drinking socially, it increases the urge to light up. But this is also the time of year when she feels the most pressure to give up her habit. 

"I have been asked several times already, 'So what's your resolution going to be? Is it going to be to quit smoking again?' I mean I'm a smoker, I'm not an idiot. I know it's horrible for me," she said.

Cashin says she smokes around half a pack (12 or 13 cigarettes) per day. She managed to quit for more than a month last summer, but fell off the wagon because of stress when she went back to school in the fall.

Cashin didn't make a New Year's resolution to quit, but says when she does try to quit again, she'll turn to Yukon government's QuitPath program. 

QuitPath's Sandra Duncan says some of the new resources available are motivational text messages and emails. 

"They're just motivational thoughts on, you know, 'stay positive, you're  doing great, today's your quit date,' or information on how to deal with a craving or withdrawal," she says.

The program also offers nicotine patches, which Duncan says can double the chance of quitting successfully.

The patches are available free for up to 12 weeks.