US games developer makes quitting smoking child's play
May 28, 2008
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Smokers are about to get help kicking the tobacco habit: an interactive computer game that aims to "coach" cigarette users away from their addiction.
Based on the successful "Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking" method which reportedly has helped more than 10 million smokers to stub out their cigarettes once and for all, the game, designed for Nintendo DS, will be developed by the Quebec bureau of California-headquartered Ubisoft.
It is expected to go on sale in November.
Ubisoft is the company that has brought the world games that pit players against an invasion of demonic rabbits or allow them to learn a foreign language using the Nintendo DS, with its interactive touch screen.
In the smoking cessation game, players enter a brief personal smoking history and their tobacco habits and choose a personal coach to guide them through the process of quitting, according to a press release issued by Ubisoft.
Fifteen mini-games help to "dispel the illusions about nicotine addiction" and players can track their progress in kicking the habit using the "Path to Freedom" meter.
And even after that last cigarette butt has sullied the ashtray, "you can still play the game and measure the daily benefits you get from your new life without cigarettes," Ubisoft promises.
"The player experiences a truly interactive engagement with the game, through which he or she learns that it can actually be enjoyable to quit smoking," said Christian Salomon, vice president of worldwide licensing at Ubisoft.
Press Release
Let’s get growing! On September 14th 2007 each of the 28, newly reorganized and restructured, Healthy Maine Partnerships in Maine received an apple tree saplings from the Governor and the Maine Center for Disease Control, Public Health. The trees were handed to the Partnerships symbolizing the foundation of a system with strong and seamless connections from local, regional, and state levels. “An apple a day is the symbol of good preventive health, but these saplings - like our emerging public health system - need to be nourished through the hard work of the people here today and the Healthy Maine Partnerships,” said Governor Baldacci.
The Healthy Maine Partnership, Sebasticook Valley Healthy Communities Coalition, invites you to join us as we celebrate our success and plant our tree on Tuesday October 16th at the Newport Elementary School at 10:30 am. Public invited!
Press Release
For Immediate Release
Acting Surgeon General Calls on Maine to Prevent
and Reduce Underage Drinking
Please click on the link: images/File/finalSGreleaseonletterhead (2).doc
Contact: Dale McCormick, Executive Director, MaineHousing
Tina Pettingill, Smoke-Free Housing Coalition of Maine, info@smokefreeforme.org or 874.8449
Date: April 21, 2007
MaineHousing takes steps to protect Mainers' health
Maine becomes second state in nation to provide smoke-free housing incentive
MaineHousing has taken steps to protect tenants from a lethal toxin ? secondhand smoke.
In their 2007 Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP), part of a competitive process that provides an opportunity for affordable housing developers to earn tax-credit dollars, MaineHousing included a one-point incentive for applicants who proposed to implement a 100% smoke-free building policy.
Maine is the second state in the nation to do this behind California, which passed a similar incentive in their plan in 2005.
"Implementing smoke-free lease language is not only legal, it is financially smart and protects the health of all tenants," says Dale McCormick, Director of MaineHousing. "For these reasons, MaineHousing encourages all public and privately funded landlords to consider adopting smoke-free policies."
In addition to applicants establishing a written policy which prohibits smoking in all units and common areas, those seeking the incentive also must offer access to a smoking cessation program. In the 2007 request for applications, most applicants applied for the one-point incentive.
For More information please visit us at:
Smoke Free Housing For ME
Subject: USA Today article on smoke-free public housing
Public housing kicks smoking habit
New tenants can't light up in homes
Article on smoke-free public housing
