Ryan Crawford, Quit Coach Supervisor, Service Delivery:   Ron feels liberated. Matt is proud. Gregory can’t believe it. Jay loves it. Dustin is confident. James is free. We’ve come to the end of the road. Our tobacco cessation support group at the Gay City Health Project joins for one last classroom session on Tuesday 2/16. The guys sit around the table and announce how they have quit successfully. “I’ve smoked for 28 years,” Gregory shakes his head. He smirks impishly and a... [More]

Ryan Crawford, Quit Coach Supervisor, Service Delivery:   “Eight dollars,” Matt admits. “Eight dollars!?” Dan yelps. The price has gone up since he smoked. This is what Matt paid for a pack of cigarettes. He had his last drag after our session last Tuesday, and a week later, Tuesday 2/9, he is still tobacco free. He looks fresh and sounds proud of himself. Lark, Dan and I facilitate the Out To Quit group’s sixth meeting together. The topic of discussion tonight? Rewards. ... [More]

Ryan Crawford, Quit Coach Supervisor, Service Delivery:   Ask anyone who has quit an addiction, “If ever you relapse, what would be the one thing that could bring you back?” Stress will likely be the answer. Breakups, breakdowns, layoffs, lawsuits: when stress hits, the reflex kicks in, and you might think of smoking without consciously meaning to. Tuesday 2/2 marks our fifth session as the Out To Quit group. 6 returning gay men sit around the long table with Dan at the front. Dan... [More]

Ryan Crawford, Quit Coach Supervisor, Service Delivery:   “It’s like a pause button,” Ergane says. “The emotions are still waiting for me when I’m done, but it gives me a break.” Smoking is Ergane’s excuse to walk away from the stress in his life. He admits to me and Dan as we facilitate this week’s Out To Quit session that cigarettes don’t actually relieve stress; they just provide a temporary escape. An escape that, lately, he has been using 20 times each day. The group is b... [More]

Ryan Crawford, Quit Coach Supervisor, Service Delivery:   The group sits around the table and chats. They become more familiar with each other, recognizing one another and saying “hello” as we return to the Gay City Health Project each week. But Lark, Dan and I are busy preparing for the session. We’ve spent a week organizing today’s event, collecting scissors and magazines and statistics. Today’s topic of discussion will be one of resentment, of determination, of action. We’re goin... [More]

Ryan Crawford, Quit Coach Supervisor, Service Delivery:   “What do you love about smoking?” Lark’s question is greeted by silence. The meeting starts off quietly—everyone is still becoming acquainted. Today, Tuesday 1/12, is the second meeting for the Out To Quit group. We have 9 returning gay men seeking support in quitting smoking. This meeting, Session 2, is their first step on that road. As a facilitator, Lark calls on each participant to get their thoughts. Dan and I assis... [More]

Ryan Crawford, Quit Coach Supervisor, Service Delivery:   It’s Tuesday, January 5th. By the time I finish work, it’s completely dark in Seattle and the traffic is thinning. I bolt uphill on foot to Capitol Hill, where I’m about to meet strangers—I’m hoping for five, maybe six. I’m the last one to arrive at the Gay City Health Project, so I blush when I walk through the doors and all faces turn to me. More than five, more than six. There are twelve! These men and the two other facili... [More]

Ryan Crawford, Quit Coach Supervisor, Service Delivery:   A friend came to me recently, heartbroken. She and her husband have been together for 10 years. He was her first love. And now, they’re getting a divorce. We thought they were great together. Sure, he smelled bad, but we let that go because she loved him so much. He was always with her at parties, always there to celebrate the fun times with her. He was there in the hard times too, when she had stressful days, when she felt... [More]

Ryan Crawford, Quit Coach Supervisor, Service Delivery:   If any country on earth is culturally defined through cigarettes, it’s Spain. Butts crushed on the stone streets, olive-skinned Sevillanos taking drags in the late hours of Féria, smoke misting every bar in Barcelona—it seems you forget that real air actually exists in Spanish public until you get back to the smoke-free airport for your return flight. Until now. Spain is considering a revolutionary, culture-warp... [More]

Ryan Crawford, Quit Coach Supervisor, Service Delivery:    "Mozhno strelnut u vas sigaretu?" This is what you ask if you want to bum a cigarette in Russia. And as tempting as it may have been for President Obama to ask this of his ambassadorial hosts while he was on a visit to Moscow, he refrained. Russia is wrought with tobacco. As with many European countries, cigarettes are normalized in everyday Russian culture. Even an international architectural icon like the Kre... [More]