PINE BLUFF -- Some Pine Bluff churches have joined the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in an anti-smoking campaign aimed primarily at black churchgoers.
Curtis Cook, pastor of the Joy Community Church in Pine Bluff, said he considers smoking a gateway drug that's as dangerous as marijuana or cocaine. Cook's church joins six others in the city that will ban smoking on their properties beginning Thursday.
Those churches are Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church, St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, First Trinity Church of God in Christ, There is Hope Church of God in Christ, True Vine "E" Missionary Baptist Church and Union Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church.
"We consider smoking to be a scourge on our society," Cook said. "It kills the body, it's very expensive and it's wrong.
"What we are telling people is that they are throwing their lives away by smoking. And we are preaching that not only in our churches but throughout the entire community."
Each year, 47,000 black Americans die due to smoking-related illnesses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cook said the anti-smoking campaign is geared toward helping smokers who want to quit by offering secession and mentoring programs.
Cook has seen firsthand the health perils that smoking can cause. He has lung problems tied to past smoking habits and said his father, who was a heavy smoker for most of his life, died from a lung-related illness.
Cook said smoking led him down an even darker path during his youth.
"For me and others years ago, smoking cigarettes led to much harder drugs," he said. "I am thankful that is not a part of my life anymore. I was able to get rid of that habit, and I want others to kick it as well."
Similar anti-smoking efforts are happening throughout the state, according to the Arkansas Department of Health.
Kerry Krell, a spokesman for the department, said in an email that "this is not the first time that a church or group of clergy has requested assistance in developing an organized health ministry that is holistic in their approach. For this specific instance, the Arkansas Minority Initiative through UAPB is the lead."
Krell added: "Also, the Tobacco Prevention and Cessation program and its local community-based partners have been working with communities on projects such as this for about four years."
The Arkansas Department of Health's Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program has been partnered with UAPB since 2002 to fund anti-smoking programs.
Calvin Johnson, program director of UAPB's Minority Initiative Sub-Recipient Grant Office, said that because faith-based institutions are often at the center of civic and social change in local communities, a church can send "a powerful tobacco-free message to its members and the community by adopting policies and programs that facilitate the cessation of tobacco."
Ruby O'Toole of Pine Bluff said she has been trying to quit smoking for more than 10 years and admitted to lighting up in her church's parking lot before and after Sunday services.
"It's not something I am proud of, but I will admit to it," said O'Toole, adding that her church is not among those banning smoking. "If they do, of course I will respect that. Smoking is a nasty habit, and I may not ever break it."
Outside the Joy Community Church recently, Cook and pastors from the other churches banning smoking stood in front of a metal sign that read: "Welcome to our tobacco-free church!"
Cook said it's a small beginning, but he has faith that the anti-smoking effort will spread to other churches around Pine Bluff.
"This is just the starting point," Cook said. "We are helping people take care of themselves. And if they don't know how, we can teach them."
State Desk on 12/29/2014