Even though the date is still eight months away, The American Cancer Society marks the official date of the Great American Smokeout as November 20, 2014.  But every day, millions of people are trying to kick the habit of smoking.

I grew up in a house where both my parents smoked.  No matter what my sister and I attempted to do to get them to stop, it took the birth of the first grandchild to make them re-think what they were doing and stop their smoking habit.

I've never been a smoker, but I have had many people that I love dearly in my life attempt to kick the habit.  Some have done it successfully, others continue to struggle, wondering if anything will work for them.  But now there may be something that might give those that struggle with the habit a little extra incentive.

Researchers have recently completed 16 different studies, and they found that one of the most successful ways to get people to stop smoking is to bribe them...with cash or lottery tickets!

They found that smokers that received financial incentives such as cash or lottery tickets were more than twice as likely to quit smoking for at least six months, compared to those smokers that simply received advice on quitting.

Researchers also noticed that by using monetary incentives, people were also more likely to remember to do important things such as breast cancer screenings, vaccinations and even exercising.

This different approach from the 16 different studies done by researchers may be good news for smokers in helping them break their habit.  But I would like to talk to those same researchers and find out why I keep giving my sons an allowance (which is a monetary incentive), yet I can't get them to pick up their dirty laundry?  Hmmm.....

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