The USSR invented a ridiculous way to quit smoking: it was never successful
The USSR was known for its unique methods of solving social problems. They usually reflected the specific social, political, and economic reality of Soviet life.
For example, they fought the shortage with the help of books on home-made products, alcoholism with posters, and a very specific method was invented for smokers. OBOZ.UA tells about its essence and effectiveness.
As in many other countries of the world, smoking was a big problem in the USSR, which negatively affected public health. However, despite this, the fight against it was rather passive and began only after the habit was officially classified as a health risk factor in 1986.
Smoking cessation.
Source: freepik.com
Ways to combat smoking in the USSR
Smoking was mainly fought in the USSR with the help of propaganda posters, calendars, and other printed materials. For example, for some time, the packaging of matches read: "A bottle of milk neutralizes the poison of three cigarettes."
The negative consequences of cigarette smoking were also discussed in the magazine Zdorovye. And the Nauka ta Zhyttia magazine even published tips to help people give up the habit. However, since this topic was quite unpopular in the society of the time and was not well studied, one could sometimes come across very specific life hacks.
Cheese cigarettes
This is probably one of the strangest methods of smoking cessation. It was proposed by Viktorov, a candidate of medical sciences, in 1982.
Smokers who wanted to quit the habit had to take any kind of hard cheese, cut it into thin strips, dry it, and put it in a cigarette pack. And then, when a person had the urge to smoke, they had to take a piece, put it in their mouth, and chew it for as long as it would take to smoke a cigarette.
It was believed that by doing so, a person would perform a habitual ritual and feel bitterness in their mouth, which would completely replace cigarettes. However, the author of the method noted that it would only work if a person was determined to give up the habit. Now it is difficult to say how effective this method was, but what is known for sure is that it did not gain much popularity.
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