» ASSIST
- peer led intervention in secondary schools
» Smoke Bugs
- club run by school nurses in primary schools
» Stop Smoking Wales
- smoking cessation programme
» Trading Standards
- reduce availability and limit access to cigarettes through awareness and enforcement
» Stop Smoking Wales
Tel: 0800 085 2219
or contact your GP/ pharmacist.
Join a stop smoking forum
» Cardiff Council: Smoking in Public Places
» We Quit
How Do I Go About Quitting?
Your best chance of quitting comes from direct support, which is offered free by Stop Smoking Wales. You can also seek help to quit smoking from your GP, local pharmacist or in some instances your dentist.
Stop Smoking Wales can be contacted on 0800 085 2219
For further advice on quitting smoking please visit:
Stop Smoking Wales
or
ASH Stop Smoking
or
ASH Wales
What Are the Benefits of Enjoying a Smoke Free Lifestyle?
Almost immediately when you quit smoking, your body starts benefiting. And the effects are far-reaching*:
Time span | Effects |
|---|---|
20 minutes after quitting: |
|
Eight hours later: |
|
24 hours later: |
|
48 hours later: |
|
Two weeks to three months later: |
|
One to nine months later: |
|
One year later: |
|
Five years later: |
|
10 years later: |
|
15 years later: |
|
* Source: American Lung Association
The Cost of Smoking
Attached is a table detailing the simple level of expenditure for cigarettes over the years. The cost of 20 average brand cigarettes at £5.42
| Amount a day | Cost per year | Cost per 2 years | Cost per 5 years | Cost per 10 years |
| 5 Cigarettes | £494 | £988 | £2,470 | £4,940 |
| 10 Cigarettes | £988 | £1,976 | £4,940 | £9,880 |
| 20 Cigarettes | £1,976 | £3,952 | £9,880 | £19,760 |
| 40 Cigarettes | £3,952 | £7,904 | £19,760 | £39,520 |
For instance £500 gets you a holiday to Europe and £2000 gets you a cruise on a top ship across to the United States and back!!
The Smoking Ban in Public Places
The law banning smoking in enclosed public places in Wales came into force on 2nd April 2007.
Why was the legislation introduced?
The law protects workers and the general public from the harmful effects of environmental tobacco smoke.
In 1998, the UK Scientific Committee on Tobacco and Health (SCOTH) issued a major report which concluded that exposure to second-hand smoke can cause lung cancer and heart disease in adult non-smokers and respiratory disease, cot death, middle ear disease and asthmatic attacks in children. The Welsh Assembly Government estimates that the smoke-free legislation will prevent over 400 deaths each year among non-smokers in Wales from heart disease, cancer, stroke and respiratory illness.
What offences are created by the legislation?
Smoking is illegal within public places and workplaces if these are wholly or substantially enclosed, including rooms previously designated as 'smoking rooms'.
The law affects the great majority of public premises, including workplaces and work vehicles, and applies to staff, customers and visitors. Failure to comply with the law is a criminal offence - there are 3 specific offences:
Authorised officers of the local authority enforce the law and offer businesses support in complying with its provisions. You can call the Health Improvement Team on 029 2087 1840 to register any complaints about breaches of the legislation. All complaints are investigated and followed up. Advice to businesses is also available on this number.
What do I need to do?
Individuals just need to be aware that it is an offence to smoke in an enclosed place, indicated by the signage displayed. You can find out more about the ban, together with frequently asked questions, on the dedicated Smoking Ban Wales website.
How Can I Enjoy a Smoke Free Lifestyle?
A smoke free lifestyle benefits not just the health of yourself but the health of your family, friends, co-workers and even your pets (Yes really! Cats, Dogs and other animals will breathe in your second hand smoke too, there have been recorded cases of ill health of family pets because the owners smoked). To really make a healthier difference it is not just enough to "go next door" for a quick fag. Make your house smoke free and you will have made a great choice for the health of those in the house who may not smoke. Also it gives an important message to children; you may be hooked but you know yourself how damaging it is and you do not wish them to become addicted.
Even if you open a window, secondhand smoke will still be present in a room after two and a half hours! Even if you can't see or smell any smoke, it's probably still there. Smoking in a car is even worse because all of the smoke is concentrated into a small space. When commencing long journeys with non-smokers or children in the car why not think about using nicotine replacement therapy to protect others from the smoke and then having a cigarette when you get there? You never know, you might even start weaning yourself off the fags and saving yourself some serious money.
Did You Know?
Nearly £2000 a year could be saved by quitting smoking 20 cigarettes per day.
Many people wrongly believe that cigarette filters are biodegradable and made of cotton. However they are made of cellulose acetate, which takes 12 years to biodegrade.
Cigarette ends are harmful to the environment, and cause health problems to children and animals that consume them.
The risk of early menopause is particularly high among women who smoke - one large US study found that women aged 40-44 years who smoked were twice (2.1) as likely to have gone through menopause as their non-smoking peers. The more cigarettes smoked, the greater the risk. For example, a study of Scottish women in their forties found that the risk of early menopause was almost trebled (2.7) for women who had smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for 20 years.
Smoking during pregnancy has been identified as a cause of cot death. The risk of cot death is approximately trebled in infants whose mothers smoke both during and after pregnancy. The more cigarettes smoked, the greater the risk.
"Of the people alive today, 650 million will eventually be killed by tobacco. Cigarettes kill half of all lifetime users, and half of those die in middle age.. There is no other consumer product on the market that is remotely as dangerous, or kills as many people. Tobacco kills more than AIDS, legal drugs, illegal drugs, road accidents, murder and suicide combined."
The incidence of middle-ear disease, including recurrent ear infections, is increased among children exposed to second-hand smoke.
National Dates: Stop Smoking
No Smoking Day, No Smoking Day (the charity).
World Health Day, World Health Organisation.
National Allergy Week, Allergy UK.
Cancer Prevention Week, World Cancer Research Fund.
Asthma Awareness Week.
Fruity Friday, World Cancer Research Fund.
National Smile Month, British Dental Health Foundation.
World No Tobacco Day, World Health Organisation, Regional Office for Europe.
World Environment Day, United Nations.
www.un.org/climatechange/calendar
'Breathe Easy' Week, British Lung Foundation.
International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, United Nations.
Lung Cancer Awareness Month, Macmillan Cancer Support.
Indoor Allergy Week.
» P is for Protecting children and babies from secondhand smoke (pdf)
» S is for Smoking and pregnancy (pdf)
Comments from people who have attended Stop Smoking Groups