kickin' the habit...

If you want to kick the habit of smoking, sure, you could stick on a patch, chew some gum, get hypnotized, become a pin-cushion with Acupuncture sessions, puff on a pretend cigarette that looks kind of like a tampon, or finance some of those expensive Chantix pills. Sometimes these programs work, sometimes they don't.

If you've tried everything, and are still itching to light up, there's a new program you might not know about...

Your Cell Phone.

Yes, technology now will deliver - via your cell phone - a conscience like that of a close friend; a virtual quit buddy that will be by your side, or on your hip, to help you through those rough times of anxiety and withdrawal. What will they think of next?

"Immediacy is one of the most critical parts of the program," said Jodi Kopke, media director at Colorado's State Tobacco Education and Prevention Partnership (STEPP). "For someone to say they smoke at 7 a.m., 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. and then to get a message right as they are about to get up and light up, that is so powerful."

Colorado's STEPP and Denver-based ad agency Cactus developed a message system on cell phones with an Internet quit program. Initially aimed at high school students in Colorado, the state hopes to soon share its fledgling FixNixer program as a technique for all age groups and geographies.

~ Michele Gershberg NEW YORK (Reuters)