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According to a striking new Government advertising campaign, smokers are hooked on an average of 5,000 cigarettes a year. The unpleasant TV adverts show smokers being violently grabbed by a fish hook and dragged to the places where they normally enjoy a fag. Billboards are just as graphic with an image of a woman with a hook driven through her mouth. The Hook campaign is this year's annual anti-smoking drive which traditionally starts in time for new year's resolutions. But this year the Government is hoping more people than ever will give up in time for the ban on lighting up in public places and workplaces which starts in July. In addition, the legal age for buying cigarettes will rise from 16 to 18 in October in a bid to stop children taking it up. Public Health Minister Caroline Flint said: "These adverts highlight the controlling nature of tobacco. On average, British smokers consume 14 cigarettes a day or 5,110 cigarettes a year. "Smoking devastates hundreds of thousand of lives a year, killing 106,000 people each year in the UK. We want Hook to encourage as many people as possible to stop smoking." Already another series of hard-hitting adverts is on our screens. Cancer Research UK is behind the Department of Health-funded Smoke is Poison series made by award-winning reporter Donal MacIntyre. The filmmaker interviewed scientists and undertakers about the health and safety precautions they had to take – before shocking them by revealing chemicals like arsenic, benzene and formaldehyde were in cigarette smoke. He said: "This series of docu-ads with their straightforward, honest – almost anti-advertising approach – are a first for the UK. Filming them has certainly made me and the rest of the crew think twice about the dangers of cigarette smoke. We hope they save lives." The aim is to raise awareness of the harmful chemicals in smoke – something which a Cancer Research UK survey found most people know little about. But for these ads to work, they need to shock smokers into tackling their powerful addiction. Professor of health psychology Robert West, from University College London, said: "Smoking is not just a habit – for many smokers it's a complex and powerful addiction. "The nicotine in cigarette smoke can be as addictive as heroin and crack cocaine. Although most smokers believe that cigarettes help them cope, the evidence shows that it makes things worse and that ex-smokers have lower stress levels than smokers who are constantly having to go through a cycle of withdrawal symptoms and smoking to relieve these. "Talk of giving up smoking is actually quite wrong – by quitting tobacco and getting unhooked you are in fact gaining control and freeing yourself from lethal cycle of addiction. Recent research has found that 70 per cent of ex-smokers say they are happier than when they were smoking and only three per cent report being less happy." This emotional relationship with cigarettes was proved by a survey by Nicorette which found 41 per cent of smokers in Yorkshire likened their feelings towards cigs to a relationship gone bad. Psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos said: "It is not surprising that smokers build up a strong emotional relationship with cigarettes over time. They often find it difficult to separate smoking from a variety of emotional and social occasions. "Smokers often feel de-stressed when they smoke and the thought of not smoking can build up stress levels." The brand has developed Nicorette ActiveStop, a 'virtual' smoking cessation coach where quitters are kept motivated through their mobile phone and personal webpage. Families in Leeds can also pledge to make their homes smoke-free and protect youngsters from passive smoking. Children are more badly affected by smoke than adults because they breathe deeper and faster and absorb more of the poisonous chemicals, which can damage their vital organs. Second-hand smoke can also increase the risk of cot death and affects behaviour and learning. Every year 17,000 children across the UK are hospitalised with respiratory problems like asthma because they live in homes where people smoke. Already 1,000 families have signed up to Leeds Primary Care Trust's smoke-free promise initiative and made a bronze, silver or gold promise. Committing to the bronze promise means never smoking in the presence of children, a silver promise means only smoking in one well-ventilated room and never in the presence of children while a gold promise means banning smoking in the home. Smokefree Homes coordinator Joy Lane said: "We are delighted to have reached a thousand promises and even more pleased that most parents have signed up to the gold promise. "This will make a tremendous difference, particularly for children who previously lived in smoky homes." - To get unhooked from cigarettes, call 0800 1690169 or visit getunhooked.co.uk For more information on signing up for a smoke-free home, log on to www.smokefreeyh.org.uk For details on the poisons in cigarette smoke visit www.smokeispoison.com or to register for help from Nicorette, log on to www.nicorette.co.uk
By Jo Rostron THIS is the year I am going to knock my filthy habit on the head. Ten years of puffing away on tar sticks is taking its toll and it's now time to turn over a new leaf. As I rapidly head towards the age of 30, there's a little something that's started to niggle. And it's a lot more powerful than a nicotine itch. I cannot shake this horrifying vision of what I might become in 20 years time if I maintain this gigantic addiction. No, I am a fag-for-breakfast type of smoker who can chain my way through a day and not even realise. And the hideous thought of my face becoming a wrinkle-ravaged, brown toothed, old handbag is somewhat terrifying. Match this with a constant hacking cough and the ashtray aroma that permanently follows me around, I fear I'll resemble something out of a nightmare. Trouble is I've done this before. I quit for six months last year and piled on the pounds. I ended up doing the cliched, 'I'll just have one' routine and before I knew it, I was right back up to 20-a-day. But 2007 brings further reason to quit as smokers are set to become social outcasts – literally. When the ban comes into force in July, the thought of peeling off every hour to smoke a cigarette outside a restaurant or bar is somewhat ridiculous. I've spent my life avoiding smoke-free zones and now I will be forced to breathe clean air everywhere I go. Thus is the ludicrous logic of a smoker, a smoker who doesn't want to be told when and where to smoke, and that's also why I want to quit now. So it's goodbye to that ashtray aroma and potential handbag skin. This year is the start of clean lungs, fresh air – and a choice not to smoke.
The average smoker has 14 cigs a day. The vast majority – 70 per cent – of smokers feel dependent on cigarettes and of these 27 per cent are "very dependent". Women feel this more than men with 74 per cent admitting they feel dependent compared with 66 per cent of men. Smoking-related illnesses cost the NHS £1.7 billion each year. Stopping smoking is the single best thing anyone can do to boost their health. Three days after quitting, sensations of taste and smell return, within three weeks circulation improves and within three months coughs, wheezing and breathing problems get better. In England there are now as many former smokers as smokers – 24 per cent of adults smoke and 24 per cent have quit. Of the 10 million adults who smoke in Britain, about 70 per cent of them want to give up. Men who have given up are most likely to be tempted back to the cigs after a few drinks while women say they would find it most difficult not to smoke if they heard some bad news. The NHS Smoking Helpline on 0800 1690169 provides advice and support as well as referrals to local NHS Stop Smoking Services. These offer free face-to-face help through meetings and groups. Government research shows smokers are up to four times more likely to give up successfully if they use their local NHS Stop Smoking Service along with Nicotine Replacement Therapy than using willpower alone.
03 January 2007 |