Renfrewshire's Provost opens up on quitting smoking in hope of inspiring others to kick habit

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Renfrewshire's Provost has lifted the lid on kicking her smoking habit in a bid to spur on those struggling to give up.Lorraine Cameron has revealed since she first picked up a cigarette at the tender age of 14, she found herself in a cycle of "half-heartedly" trying to quit and failing for 36 years.She said managed to ditch fags four times when she was pregnant, but every time she would always go back to them afterwards.But it seems the mental battle never killed her determination to stop and she can now proudly say she has not touched a cigarette in nine years.And the SNP Paisley Southwest councillor now hopes her story will serve as inspiration to those who are facing the same challenge.“I started smoking when I was 14," said Provost Cameron. Don't miss the latest headlines from around Renfrewshire.

Sign up to our newsletters here. "My friends and I tried it and it made us feel cool.“As an adult, I tried several times to quit.

I knew it wasn’t good for me or my bank account.“I did manage to quit temporarily when I was pregnant. That’s four times I gave it up.

But when each of my babies was only a few weeks old, I reached for the cigarettes once more."I thought after giving up for months at a time, it would be easy to stop for good but it never was."The veteran elected member - who decided to open up on the back of No Smoking Day this week - said she tried the classic method of nicotine patches, but it never worked.She knew something had to fundamentally change with her mentality about smoking before she could truly boot