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The former smoker is hoping others will take a shot at refraining from lighting up for at least 24 hours beginning Thursday for the annual Great American Smokeout. The yearly event is sponsored by the American Cancer Society.

"It's a way to make people aware every year that it's time to think about quitting smoking," said the registered respiratory therapist and pulmonary rehabilitation coordinator for Lapeer Regional Medical Center. "Hopefully if people can make it one day, maybe they'll keep it going."

A display of information will be set up Thursday in the main lobby of the medical center. People will be able to get their lungs tested by blowing into a spirometer, a device used to determine if there is a problem with the lungs.

"It's a test recommended for anybody that smokes over the age of 45 years old, or people with some type of symptoms like chronic coughing," Harris said. "If there's something wrong, the person will hopefully go to the doctor and get a full test."

Another push to get people to quit smoking will include the hospital campus going smoke-free starting Jan. 1, Harris added.

Harris kicked the habit 10 years ago after at one time going through two packs of cigarettes a day. To alleviate the pressure of quitting, he took drugs like Zyban and Bupropion.

Other methods include patches and gum. A newer drug called Chantix has been popular and blocks the receptor sites in the brain stimulated from nicotine.

"If it blocks those sites, the nicotine can't get in and do its thing," Harris said.

A non-traditional way to kick the habit involves hypnosis, and according to Denise Sweet-Bryson, a licensed hypnotist through the National Guild of Hypnotists, the idea works. She will be instructing a class at Mott Community College in Lapeer on how to quit smoking by hypnosis from 6-9 p.m. Jan. 15. The cost to register is $29.

"I reach the part of their brain that is their subconscious and the trigger point of any addiction," said Sweet-Bryson, who has hypnotized more than 100 smokers with a 99.8% success rate. "I walk them through a series of viewing their body and viewing how smoking affects their body."

Breaking the mental part of the addiction can be a hassle for many people, the hypnotherapist said. Old habits like smoking along with losing weight or lowering caffeine intake can prove challenging.

A couple weeks prior to the hypnosis, Sweet-Bryson hands out a list of things smokers can do to change their lifestyle. These include putting cigarettes in the trunk of the vehicle when traveling, finding something to keep hands busy, reaching for a piece of fruit or glass of water instead of a cigarette, and more.

"We want to wipe out whatever there is negative, and reinforce the positive," she said.

Harris and Sweet-Bryson agree there's more to it than just the typical health issues associated with smoking, such as lung cancer, heart disease and emphysema.

"A lot of people are looking at the money with the gas prices and wage reductions," Sweet-Bryson said. "The baby boomers have been doing it since the 60s and 70s. This will take a lot out of retirement."

Along with not burning holes in clothes, and the smell of smoke lingering off the person, the big thing for Harris is the freedom.

"I always promote the freedom," he said. "It's a big, big thing just not having to do it. Especially in this day in age, it's so difficult to (smoke) anymore."

For more information on hypnosis, call Sweet-Bryson at (810) 245-9010. To register for the Mott class, call (810) 667-6546.

The Better Breathers Club meets at 2 p.m. the third Tuesday of each month at Lapeer Regional Medical Center. The support group is designed to help people learn how to better manage and live with lung disease. For more information, contact Harris at (810) 667-5675.

Jeff Hoard can be reached at (810) 664-0811, Ext. 8127 or jeff.hoard@lapeergroup.com