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Call the Quit Line on 137 848 (13
QUIT).
The call is free. Advice, support
and kits are available.
As repeated surveys show, the large majority of smokers want to quit -
so ASH supports
better-funded quit campaigns and cessation services.
Since smokers have consumer rights, we support better consumer
protection and more tobacco industry accountability for harming and
deceiving smokers.
We do not support
criminalising personal possession of tobacco, or penalising smokers for smoking
where they are not harming others.
See below for
HELP WITH QUITTING
LATEST NEWS AND
RESEARCH
MORE
INFO AND RESOURCES
and a discussion of SMOKERS'
RIGHTS See also
our smokers'
memorial and smokers'
stories
and Latest
quit ads at Cancer Institute NSW
HELP
WITH QUITTING
By far the most successful method of stopping smoking is unassisted
"cold turkey."
See Prof
Simon Chapman article, BMJ August 2011
I
Can Quit
Great site from Cancer Institute NSW. Step-by-step help with
quitting, useful experiences of those who've done it, even a calculator
for how much you'll save! See latest
campaign
Quitline
Call the Quit Line on 137 848 (13
QUIT). The call is free. Advice, support
and kits available.
Quit
because you can
This is the complete online guide to
everything you need to know about flicking the stick. Run by Quit, who
really know their stuff.
Quit
coach
An interactive program to help you give the flick to the
cancer stick! A free computer program which asks you questions and
gives you useful ideas for quitting.
Australian national quit
campaign
You
can find help in several languages here.
The
Day I Quit
This is where to take the pledge, quit smoking and share your story with
others via a connected Facebook page. Launched by the Cancer Institute NSW
for World No Tobacco Day 2010, the project also includes radio
segments and interactive live readings.
Put on weight while quitting? Go the next
step and "Get Healthy"
Smoking doesn't make you thin (see
research above) but some people do put on weight while quitting. NSW Health
Dept campaign offers this free,
confidential service. Register for Get Healthy by calling
1300 806 258 or by visiting the Get
Healthy website
E-cigs (electronic cigarettes)
Various "e-cig" products have appeared on the market, sometimes involving inhalation of nicotine vapour but no tobacco. Some unsupported
claims have been made about the safety of these and their potential role in
smoking cessation. ASH believes all such products should be subject to the
same testing and approval standards as all other pharmaceutical or consumer
products. See Law
and info from Therapeutic
Goods Administration
LATEST
NEWS AND RESEARCH
Read the latest
research on smoking and health harm. Some recent findings:
Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)
is now listed on the PBS
2011:
NRT subsidy from the
Pharmaceutical benefits Scheme can now be claimed by all concession card
holders. See Minister's
release 1/2/11
ASH says (9/12/10): Nicotine
replacement subsidy will help battlers quit
Smokers:
more drink & drugs, less exercise, lower quality of life
2010: Study of over 7,000
Madrid residents, djusting for health/socio-economic variables, shows "smokers
consume more antidepressant drugs and tranquilisers, drink more alcohol,
get less physical exercise, and demonstrate a lower [health
quality of life] than nonsmokers."
See abstract
Single puff may trigger addiction: tobacco-funded study
2010: A study sponsored by tobacco
giant Philip Morris in Psychopharmacology has found
nicotine concentration in the brain after just one puff is enough to
trigger mechanisms related to addiction. See
abstract
and preview and full
study pdf
Laser
quit clinics must withdraw misleading claims after ASH complaint
2009: Laser therapy clinics will withdraw misleading claims of quit-smoking effectiveness after
investigation of ASH complaints by the ACCC. See ACCC
media release 24/9/09
Heavy
smoking linked with prostate cancer
2009: Heavier smoking increases the risk of prostate cancer -
and the likelihood of dying from it, says a meta-analysis of 24 studies
published online in the American Journal of Public Health.
See study
abstract
Smoking linked with
"Swine Flu" and other influenza
2009: Research from US
Centers for Disease Control suggests smoking
is linked with incidence of, and death rate from, influenza
strains. 2006
study on links with swine influenza viruses concluded "workers who...
smoked ... most frequently had evidence
of previous H1N1 swine virus."
Kate's model
face suffers the ravages of smoking
2009: Chain-smoking is robbing top model Kate Moss of her good looks,
friends claim. See
story with pic in Sydney
Morning Herald Life&Style feature 17/6/09
Health
insurers invest in tobacco, then slug smokers
2009: Research on investments by UK and North American-based
health insurance companies shows they invest billions in tobacco
companies - then slug smokers with higher premiums. See
letter in New
England Journal of Medicine 4/6/09
Smoking almost doubles
women's depression
2008: Women who smoke almost double their risk of serious
depression, says a study of over a thousand women by Melbourne
University researchers published in the British Journal of
Psychiatry. See study
abstract
How to burn up $300,000
2008: Cigarettes cost the average Australian smoker $300,000
during their (seriously shortened) lifetime. Some startling figures are in a
letter from a South Australian infectious diseases physician to the Medical Journal of Australia. See
the
letter
Smoking-slimming myth
battered: smoking cuts muscle but adds fat
2007: Australian research says smoking may add, not reduce,
body fat. A study from the UNSW and Melbourne University in the American Journal of
Physiology. See
study
abstract
AND
MORE GOOD REASONS TO QUIT...
Hundreds of reasons to quit
Check out these new Canadian
posters. High resolution, print-ready poster artwork can be downloaded from nnsw.ca:
Print all five or choose your favourite(s).
Effects of tobacco on
your body
See Tobacco Atlas comprehensive
graphic on How
tobacco harms you
10
overlooked reasons to quit smoking
OK, so you know it causes cancer, heart disease, emphysema.... but here
are ten impacts you might not have been aware of - including Alzheimer's,
Lupus, SIDS, rheumatoid arthritis, snoring and heartburn!
Powerful
anti-smoking ads on YouTube
Have a look at some of these
moving and sad videos from around the world about tobacco and its impact
on smokers and their families.
Deborah, 38, faces death from smoking
2007: Having lost both parents to smoking, this young American
mother now has late-stage lung cancer and prepares to say goodbye to her
children. See whyquit
release Sept 2007
Thanks
tobacco, you killed my mom
9-minute US video on YouTube - showing the painful death at
just 57 of the film-maker's mother, from lung cancer. She wanted it filmed
to deter kids from taking up smoking. Sad and honest.
Smoking
and strokes ads
Smoking
Is Bad for Your Wealth
Of course smoking is bad for the heart, lungs, and
the rest of the body. But do you realise what smoking does to savings?
The cold, hard numbers appeared this 2005 article in Tobacco
Control.
Ghetto Science on smoking
Check this 3 minute YouTube
video shot in Sydney in which a young American conducts a
simple but powerful experiment. Doesn't talk down to you -
though it's a bit thoughtless how he flicks the cigarette away. And we
DON'T recommend you try it for yourself - unless you want to get that
stuff in YOUR lungs.
WHAT AM I SMOKING?
Amazing what you find in a cigarette. 4000+ compounds,
250+ toxic, 40+ known human carcinogens.
See
What's
in a cigarette
MORE
INFO AND RESOURCES
Quit
smoking media campaigns from Cancer Institute NSW
Latest hard-hitting campaigns - both brand new and repackaged from
previous classics. And
see these other award- winning Australian
campaign adverts from Quit
What
happens if I quit now?
Have a look at this "Smoker's Risk" site from the US National
Cancer Institute - check your (or friend/relative's) current risk level
and how it would be lowered if you quit now.
Is "chop chop" more natural and
healthier than shop cigarettes?
No - in fact, mould and fungi are commonly found in chop-chop (rough
rolled tobacco sold illegally under the counter) - and smokers are
inhaling mould spores directly into their lungs. See
Chop
chop factsheet
SMOKERS'
RIGHTS and the tobacco industry
Smokers,
like all consumers, have rights - which ASH supports. Five fundamental consumer
rights were enshrined in a Consumer’s Bill of Rights in 1962 by US
President J.F. Kennedy; and since then, the world consumer movement has
added two more.
But
despite tobacco companies claiming to support "smokers' rights",
their record on this is poor. Look at the checklist of rights below, then check
their record
to see how Big Tobacco has ignored and opposed these rights - and continues
to do so.
(Our comments in italics).
1.
Right to Safety
Tobacco products are inherently dangerous - not just from
overdose or misuse but when used as directed. They cause disease, disability and premature
death. Second-hand exposure of others, including
children and workmates, is also unsafe and causes significant harm even
at low levels of exposure. The tobacco industry opposes health measures that
would reduce this harm. More
2. Right to
Honesty
The tobacco industry
for decades has hidden, denied and understated their products'
addictiveness and harm; and the industry’s marketing
tactics, especially targeting children.
More
3.
Right to Fairness
Price of cigarettes
paid by consumers covers tobacco companies' costs, profits and taxes. But
costs of
compensation for harm caused by tobacco are not covered - these additional, hidden costs come out of the consumer’s pocket
later. Tobacco companies make huge profits but - unlike
other businesses - take no responsibility
for their product's direct harm. More
4. Right
to Know
Many dangerous, poisonous
ingredients in tobacco have been deliberately concealed by the industry
over many decades.
More
5. Right
to Choose
The tobacco industry
has continued to sell a product whose addictiveness - denied, hidden and
downplayed by the industry - compromises consumers’ capacity to choose
freely. Most smokers begin as children
– becoming addicted when they are too young to make a fully
informed decision.
More
6. Right
to be Heard
Tobacco companies have
fought to silence dissatisfied customers by "throwing the legal
book at them". The industry has blocked legal actions using intimidatory tactics and
intrusive surveillance to delay and deter. These companies and
their lawyers have been found to have destroyed documents to stop the
public learning the embarrassing truth. More
7. Right
to Relief
All claims against
tobacco companies are defended vigorously by legions of lawyers who use
the industry's vast financial power to outspend and outlast plaintiffs debilitated by
tobacco diseases and loss of income. More
More
on Human Rights: the UN Declaration. How does the tobacco industry
measure up to these principles?
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