it occurs to me

[the_siobhan]

A whole bunch of my local friends are taking part in this;

http://www.driventoquit.ca/

You could click on the link to find out what it is, but I'll just tell you. It's a contest being held by the Canadian Cancer Society. If you quit smoking for a month (and there will be blood tests) you can win a car.

Am I the only person that thinks it's kinda weird that they are encouraging people to give up something that's bad for their health - by offering the chance of winning something else that's bad for their health?

Comments

[shara.livejournal.com]

NOW also thinks its odd. ;)

Apparently they used to give away vacations but found it wasn't much incentive. Go fig. Maybe they should give away a smart car or a hot air balloon.

[the_axel]

The cycling activist mailing list were all over that.
One of them asked, as a prospective donor to the charity:

Dear Mr. *********,

Thank you for taking your time to express your concern.

First of all, I would like to clarify that the cost of promoting the
Driven to Quit Challenge is paid by the Ontario Ministry of Health
Promotion, our partner in the Ontario Tobacco Strategy. The car is paid
for by sponsor Johnson & Johnson Inc. Your donation is directed to
cancer research, information, advocacy initiatives and community
services for people living with cancer. In 2005-06, Canadian Cancer
Society - Ontario Division contributed $30 million towards research
across Canada.

We took great effort to identify and offer an Ontario-manufactured car
that is deemed the most fuel-efficient model available and recommended
by Natural Resources Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Health
Promotion. Our goal is to register as many smokers as possible in the
Challenge and we hope that all will be successful in their quit attempt.
It also offers an opportunity to raise awareness of the resources
available to help smokers such as Smokers' Helpline and Smokers'
Helpline Online.

Tobacco use causes about 30% of cancer deaths in Canada and more than
85% of lung cancers. It is responsible for more than 47,500 deaths per
year in Canada. With 16,000 Ontarians dying every year from
tobacco-related disease, reducing tobacco use is a top priority for the
Canadian Cancer Society.

With 16,000 Ontarians dying every year from tobacco-related disease,
reducing tobacco use is a top priority for the Canadian Cancer Society.

While the Society is concerned about all risk factors for cancer, with
the Driven to Quit Challenge, we are focusing on tobacco use, the number
one cause of preventable disease, disability and death in Canada.

Thank you again for your message.

Driven to Quit Challenge team

My take is that for most adult Canadians car ownership is a given so winning a car is unlikely to chage the drive/not drive decision.

[panic-girl.livejournal.com]

The insurance on the car -- and gas! -- would cost me more than I spend on smokes at this point. :P

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

Can your google-fu come up with an approximate number of car- and smog-related deaths for the sake of comparison?

[minwee.livejournal.com]

What I found interesting was that the Driven To Quit challenge started on Thursday. When I went to the nearby Really Big Grocery Store, the shelf which usually contains the Nicorette gum had been completely cleared off and bags of two-bite brownies were on sale for half price.

Those could just be coincidences, but I like to think they aren't.

[the_axel]

Transport Canada says 2800 deaths per year in collisions, and the death rate per km travelled has halved in the last 23 years.

Health Canada estimates a further 6200 per year from the long term effect of pollution. I can't find any source that breaks down the sources of pollution - they all say "pollution is bad. It's caused by lots of things". But I recall reading that most pollution in Canada is auto related (from driving, oil extraction & refinement, transporting oil, vehicle manufacturing, mining for raw materials for vehicles, &c., &c.) so lets say 3/4 of the pollution that kills people.

there are probably more indirect accidents on top of that, and of course pollution causes cancer (and again no statistical data that I could find).

And I'll take up smoking and give that up

[http://users.livejournal.com/cincinnatus_c_/]

What I want to know is, how are they going to make sure you were a smoker to begin with?

Look at it this way: it's a great incentive for environmentalists to quit smoking, win that car, and take it off the road!

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

We'd sell it.

Then Axe could buy that really spiffy racing bike he's been drooling over.

Re: And I'll take up smoking and give that up

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

You need a witness to declare that you are a smoker.

I imagine they don't have the resources to do a before-and-after test on all the contestents.

[hellsop.livejournal.com]

I wonder what incentive they'll have to get those people to stay quit?