Prevention Specialist speaks out against nicotine
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Today marks the 35th anniversary of the Great American Smoke Out. Though the event has encouraged many tobacco users to quit the habit, every former smoker has followed their own path to cleaner lungs and a healthier life.
Prevention Specialist for Western Montana Addiction Services Julia Roberts is hesitant to tell her story. She is the quintessential example of heath and healthy lifestyles, but she struggled to quit smoking for years.
Despite her affliction with asthma, Roberts snuck her mother’s cigarettes as an act of rebellion at age 13.
It wasn’t just the cigarettes she smoked, it was the friends she attracted and the lifestyle she chose that kept her from her full potential in school.
“I wasn’t motivated in school and being a good student wasn’t a priority,” Roberts explained. “We just really didn’t care, but I could see I was going down the wrong road.”
Things changed once Roberts got to college.
At the University of Montana she rediscovered her love of dance, and that creative outlet filled a void in her life.
She became more serious about her studies and artistic abilities. Smoking took a back seat as she redefined her life, but the habit dies hard. Roberts became a closet smoker — hiding her addiction from the public eye for years.
After she had her kids and started working with addiction prevention, she knew the bad habit couldn’t continue.
“I started working with kids and realized what I do impacts the kids and others,” Roberts said. “That’s when I decided I needed to try and be a positive role model to the kids.”
As a prevention specialist working with minors and families to prevent addiction and promote healthy behaviors and lifestyles, Roberts knew that her habit was in contradiction with the message she was attempting to convey.
“It’s almost like you are living two lives,” Roberts said. “You have this part of you that wants to go smoke, but then you have this other part of you that has your job.”
Luckily, the habit wasn’t difficult for Roberts to quit once she had made her mind up.
With bad lungs, a history of asthma, and a healthy lifestyle excluding smoking, Roberts found other activities to fill the nicotine void.
Dancing and family being two of the most important.
Roberts runs Mission Valley Dance Studio and Family Matters from the same building in Polson. It’s where she passes on her passion for healthy lifestyles by teaching dance and counseling families.
So when she sees a few teenagers smoking, she’s bound to ruffle their feathers.
“I try to joke with them,” Roberts said. “But I remind them what the consequences are to smoking.”
Ironically, young adults and teenagers are trying to look independent but are actually dependent on nicotine, Roberts explained.
And when it comes to establishing characteristics for strong individuals, it’s vital for children to see positive role models in their parents.
“I want to stress to parents that what they do is going to impact their kids,” Roberts said. “Nicotine is a nasty, nasty addiction. Dying of lung cancer and having blue lips is not a fun death. So do you really want to pass that on to the kids?”
“There is help (for smokers,)” she added.
For more information or help for quitting call 1-800-Quit-Now.
