Anything But a Drag--Smokeout Hailed

Alice Dodge of Capistrano Beach has been smoking for 3 years and really does not plan to give it up. But Thursday, she sat by the pool at the Dana Point Resort, nibbling carrots and celery in an effort to keep her mind off cigarettes.

She was joined there by 50 other smokers nibbling vegetables and cold-turkey sandwiches as they observed the 12th annual Great American Smokeout, an effort by the American Cancer Society to persuade people to stop smoking.

“I’ve been a good girl today,” Dodge said.

But her friend, Adelia Williamson of San Clemente, 68, wasn’t sure that Dodge’s effort went untainted.

“She took a walk to the lobby before. She won’t tell me if she smoked or not,” said Williamson, who sat with a button on her dress that read “Smoking Stinks.”

“It’s none of your business,” cracked Dodge, who declined to specify her age, as she reached for another carrot.

Williamson, who smoked for 15 years before quitting, had “adopted” Dodge for a day to try to help her kick the habit.

“When I first asked her to join the Smokeout, she said, ‘I’ll let you know,’ ” Williamson recalled. “But she called back . . . and I’m very happy.”

Strongheart of Laguna Beach (“just Strongheart”) said on the boardwalk at Main Beach Park that he’s not too sure about the Smokeout.

“I’m not sure if this is permanent,” he said, “but I’m gonna take it day by day.

“I know that smoking is not a good thing, but I smoked for 7 years to see what it was all about,” said Strongheart, 45. “I guess we have to take more responsibility for our health.”

The quit-smoking effort apparently didn’t reach everyone. “That’s today?” said Jon Flick as he sat across from Strongheart and puffed on a cigarette.

“I thought it was the 20th,” he said, taking another drag. “That’s my birthday.”

50 Million U.S. Smokers

The American Cancer Society estimated that nearly 40% of the 50 million U.S. smokers would try to quit Thursday and that one-tenth, about 2 million of them, would succeed.

A Gallup survey said 19.5 million of the nation’s smokers tried to quit for a day last year.

In New York, the cast and crew of off-Broadway’s “Steel Magnolias” went off cigarettes cold turkey.

Patrick Reynolds, the grandson of tobacco magnate R.J. Reynolds, helped launch a $20-million TV ad campaign accusing the tobacco industry of addicting millions of Americans.