Cantabrians are turning to Camel cigarettes to cope with earthquake stress. Canterbury Smokefree co-ordinator Vivien Daley said Canterbury calls to Quitline had dropped from 14 per cent of the total to 9 per cent since the February quake.She said feedback from General Practitioners (GPs) and quit-smoking organisations showed more people had started smoking again.
"This is very worrying but an understandable trend given what we've all been through in the last nine months," she said.
"For smokers, the memory of the way they used to handle crises by smoking was triggered by the enormity of the earthquakes and the effect they have had on our lives."
Daley said smoking was expensive and people would probably regret starting again.
