Fred Coombs: 'I quit trying to quit' smoking

Fred Coombs is smoking again.

Since he lapsed back into the habit in May, Coombs' cigarette habit has crept up to half a pack a day.

"I hate to say it, but I quit trying to quit," said Coombs, 63, a computer programmer from Wheeling. "I want to get back to it. I'm trying to find a way to regain the commitment I had in February, and I really haven't found it yet. It seems easier to keep going on than it is to take a major turn."

Coombs is interested in Chantix, a prescription medication that blocks nicotine's pleasurable effects on the brain. He plans to call his doctor by the end of the month to ask about a prescription.

"I hate to revert and say maybe there is a magic pill, but maybe this is it," he said. "I don't know."