A new program to help smokers quit. The central part is based around smokers being paired with cancer patients in hospitals (cigarette cancers generally: throat, lung, etc...) and have them help keep patients comfortable/happy. Normal applications (like the patch, pills, therapy) will also be used.

In addition to the chemical dependencies that a smoker faces, there are social dependencies. The marginal cost of giving up the chemical can be abated by the patch, or other scientific means. Which is partly what this program does, but is niether the original nor interesting part.

The problem is that the social benefit of quitting is not great enough (although recently, cigarette smokers have been crucified by the media, and pestered into corners more and more often.) In order to increase this disincentive (reverse incentive) the smokers would need see that cancer is no fun, and trust me, no one is more miserable (or persuasive) than a lung cancer patient.

Hopefully at this point the smoker has seen enough and the marginal benefit of quitting becomes too great due to the disincentive that cancer presents.
-- Blumster, Jan 30 2005

[+] (And they could have ashtrays shaped like the tumored inside of their future lungs.)
-- Mustardface, Jan 31 2005


Extreme negative reinforcement: A cancer patient with nothing to lose overcomes irritability at the presence of whiny and entitled smokers by getting a private room after choking to death the third roomate in a week.
-- reensure, Jan 31 2005


I never imagined the amazing reciprocal powers inherent in this treatment.

I think I'll call it "the cancer-kickback".

Yeah.

As wildly politically incorrect as it is.
-- Blumster, Jan 31 2005


If you can get smokers to volunteer for this, definitely.
-- david_scothern, Jan 31 2005


There would be no volunteers.
-- Shz, Jan 31 2005


their future lungs? did they get them replaced?
-- schematics, Jan 31 2005


Its not a volunteer program. Its a paid program. But it works a lot better than just the patch. Thats the whole idea.
-- Blumster, Jan 31 2005



random, halfbakery