'Hinaki' book lays it bare

Whare Dewes' How I Gave Up Smoking is an autobiography with a difference.

He opens his soul to tell a story which involves smoking tobacco from an early age, graduating to cannabis and other drugs and what he terms a wasted education.

He likens smoking to a hinaki (an eel trap), in which the eels enters a cone-shaped opening and then can't reverse.

His message is stay away from cigarettes and he offers some heartfelt advice to help smokers quit.

Never a scholar, his significant contribution was to school rugby teams and all his mates - the smokers, the hard-doers.

Whare trained hard, played hard and smoked wherever and as often as he could. He thinks the rigours of the heavy training schedule on his young body and the stress of his addictions combined to bring about a total physical breakdown on the sports field.

Pride got in the way of admitting his condition and the way he felt.

Before he had sat his School Certificate maths exam Whare had been admitted to Carrington Hospital. It was the first of many admissions into mental institutions.

When he was living in Tokanui Hospital's Whaiora Mapori cultural ward Whare was smoking more and more.

He recalls his long beard and fingers bore heavy nicotine stains. His teeth were yellow. He was carrying too much weight.

Whare's road to redemption started when smoking was banned in hospitals and workplaces.

But it took time. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia and his path to being "clean" and in good health did not happen overnight.

He says his about-turn had a lot to do with his beliefs, his church and help he received. Whare is now employed, married and a father.

He has high hopes his book will help smokers quit and make anyone considering entering the hinaki think twice.