Dee Hansen quit smoking with the help of straws and quit coaching.

A U.S. marine in Iraq smoked in this well publicized photo.

In Dee Hansen’s world, straws aren’t just for drinking. For her, they have proven to be an essential stop-smoking device. Hansen was always a light smoker, going through less than a pack a week. Car rides posed her biggest temptation.

Jennifer Gombar, a quit coach at UW-CTRI, had two simple words for Hansen: “Buy straws.” Chewing on the plastic tubes while driving was more successful than any of the other methods Hansen had tried during her on-again-off-again relationship with cigarettes since age 17.

Hansen said she began smoking right away when she joined the military as a young adult. It was a culture that encouraged initiation and perpetuated tobacco use. “We used to get Marlboro Reds in our C-rats (Army-issue food provisions for each meal).” She said it was definitely a culture of smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.

While in the Army, Hansen trained as a nurse and now works in billing for UW Health’s home health care area. She took the job in December 2007, where she quickly realized none of her new peers smoked. During employee orientation, she had learned about the organization's quit-smoking program and thought, “I’m going to hop on that bandwagon.”

Hansen said she has been talking up quitting with her 23-year-old, although the “stubborn red-haired daughter” has been resistant to the message.

Now, however, Hansen said her daughter has a new apartment and has declared it smokefree, a policy the daughter applies even to herself. It’s baby steps, Hansen thinks, but they could lead to a tobacco-free pay-off for both mother and daughter.

If you'd like to quit smoking, simply call 1-800-QUIT-NOW or 1-800-784-8669. If you're a military veteran, ask about Operation Quit Tobacco.