Smoke & Mirrors

Congratulations to the winners of Smoke & Mirrors' film competition. We think they're awesome and really effective.



You can see more about their campaign @ Smoke & Mirrors website

Lung Cancer Awareness Month

November is Lung Cancer Awareness month and Cancer Research UK have published some important facts that you should know about lung cancer and smoking.

• Lung cancer is the second most common cancer diagnosed in the UK
• In 2006, around 39,000 people were diagnosed with lung cancer in the UK, that’s 107 people every day
• The link between tobacco and cancer was established more than 50 years ago.
• Smoking causes almost 90% of lung cancer deaths.
• In Britain, around 1 in 5 adults smoke cigarettes, that’s about 9.5 million people.

Read more @ Cancer Research UK

Smoke Screen Success

Well, MTV Smoke Screen has finished and it's been a huge success for a lot of the guys who have managed to quit the habit. Their final video diaries are up so you can see the advice they have to give at the end of it all. We saw British girl Rachel last month, so let's check out what she has to say about becoming a non-smoker!



Visit the MTV Smoke Screen website

Just One Cigarette...

A study from McGill University Health Centre in Edmonton, Canada has said that smoking just one cigarette can make your arteries stiffer and the heart work faster than it should.

Leading medic Dr Stella Daskalopoulou claimed smoking just a few sneaky cigarettes could have a significant impact on the heart.

"This was revealed very clearly when these young people were placed under physical stress, such as exercise."

...

Amanda Sandford, of anti-smoking campaigners ASH, said: "This study adds to the growing body of evidence showing there is no safe level of smoking.

"Young adult smokers who say they smoke only 'socially' or 'occasionally' in the belief it is not doing them much harm should think again.

"Every single cigarette smoked adversely affects the heart and increases the chances of a fatal heart attack even among relatively young smokers."

Read more @ The Sun

Smoking also increases the build up of fat in the artery. Stiff and fatty arteries are a very risky combination for the heart!

MTV Smoke Screen & quit because...

One of our quit because... presenters - Alison Walsh - is Miss Quit for the next month as she helps out some guys and girls from all over Europe to stop smoking.

She's working with MTV on Smoke Screen. It's a website following their attempts to quit through video diaries, which Miss Quit comments on and gives them her expert advice!
















Here's one of the Brits - Rachel, who's from London and studying in Manchester:


























Visit the MTV Smoke Screen website

Doctors Were Worried About Smoking 400 Years Ago

Even 400 years ago, doctors were concerned about young people smoking. A doctor's letter from 1606 was found at a college library in Edinburgh.

The letter, which was published at the time by Dr Duncon's employer, concluded that tobacco "is so hurtful and dangerous to youth...

Read more @ BBC.co.uk

Asthma Risk for Smoking Teens

A study was done on teenagers who smoke and it showed that there's more risk of your lungs not working as well, and developing asthma symptoms.

Here the most important points from the study:

15.2% of the teen smokers they studied reported wheezing.

20.4% were wheezing after exercising.

Compare this to 8.5% and 10.7%, respectively, of non-smoking teens.

...

Smokers had poorer lung function than non-smokers

Patrick Swayze's Cancer Related to Smoking

The quit because... team was very sad to see the passing of Patrick Swayze (Roadhouse, Dirty Dancing, Donnie Darko). He's said in the past that:

"I will go so far as to say probably smoking had something to do with my pancreatic cancer..."

An American doctor gave a similar warning the other day:

"We do know, however, that we see more pancreatic cancers in people who smoke and we see more pancreatic cancers in people who are overweight.

...

But there is no question that if you want to do all you can to avoid developing a malignancy in the pancreas, do not smoke," Dr. Brown emphasized.

Read more

A Smoker's Tale

Okay, so the NHS were just a little bit behind our Sexiness In A Stick video, but their short film about Megan - a 16 year old smoker - is also pretty cool!

10 Things You Should Know About Shisha

When we go out into schools, a lot of you ask about shisha (also known as hookah, among other things). It's a regular, family practice in some cultures and it's also becoming cool with more young people too. This is partly because it's seen as being safer than smoking cigarettes.

A lot of information has been coming out in the last few weeks to show how shisha is actually way more dangerous than cigarettes.

We've got a video that shows you the dangers of shisha, so take a look!

Ex-Smoker Casts Cigs Away

A couple of weeks ago, we told you about the guy who decided to strand himself on an island in Scotland in order to quit.

Well, really strong winds have made him decide to leave the island as soon as he can. The good news is that he's been smoke-free for the longest time since he started the habit.

“This whole venture has cost me £800 and if I remain off smoking it will be the best £800 I have ever spent. I would have spent that money in a few months on fags.”

Read more @ The Scottish Sun.co.uk

African Children Poisoned by Nicotine

Here are some shocking facts from an article about how the tobacco industry is poisoning children in Africa.


Children in Malawi who are forced to work as tobacco pickers are exposed to nicotine poisoning equivalent to smoking 50 cigarettes a day, an investigation has found.

It is estimated that more than 78,000 children work on tobacco estates – some up to 12 hours a day, many for less than 1p an hour and without protective clothing.

The children reported common symptoms of green tobacco sickness (GTS), or nicotine poisoning, including severe headaches, abdominal pain, muscle weakness, coughing and breathlessness.

Everyday symptoms of GTS are more severe in children than adults as they have not built up a tolerance to nicotine through smoking and because of their physical size.

These children are risking their health for 11p a day.

Full article @ The Guardian.co.uk

Green tobacco sickness is a kind of poisoning that happens when you come into contact with wet tobacco leaves. Your skin absorbs the nicotine from the leaves. Think how at risk these kids are with no protective clothing on.

See also: 'Up In Smoke' documentary @ YouTube

A Tasteless Habit

What's your favourite food? Well, what if you couldn't taste that food properly anymore? This is one of the things that can happen to smokers over time.

A new study confirms what has already been likely known to most smokers - cigarettes lessen taste buds' abilities over time.

Read more @ All Headline News.com

Light Up, Beat Down

Take a look at this weird story from the US early this morning. As if being addicted to cigarettes didn't have enough problems!

A 36-year-old man is accused of hitting another man who refused to share a cigarette at a Salt Lake City bus stop.

...

The man declined to give away a cigarette. The man who had asked for the cigarette then punched the other man in the face and ripped the cigarette he was smoking out of his mouth, charges state.

Entire article

We think it might've looked something like this:

The Truth About Tobacco Companies

If you've seen our page about the tobacco industry, you'll know how bad these businesses are. Even with age limits in place, they still try to hook the next generation of young smokers. They want your money at the expense of your health in order to sell more cigarettes to even more people.

thetruth is one of the best sites we've seen in a long time. It puts you in the role of someone applying to work for Big Tobacco. See if you're the kind of person who could do that job.

Smoke or No Smoke, Tobacco Is Still Deadly

Some people chew tobacco or 'dip snuff' because they think it's safer than smoking.

New research has just come out that shows how smokeless tobacco is just as dangerous as smoking cigarettes.

Raw tobacco and snuff do not produce smoke that can be inhaled but one pinch of such substances is enough for exposing the user to a bunch of harmful chemicals. It was found that the harmful effects of a pinch are equivalent to smoke from five cigarettes.

Read more

Nearly 30 cancer causing chemicals were found in smokeless tobacco, and their effects aren't pretty.


















More graphic images.

Smoking on the Buses

Commonunity Arts is a great organisation working with the youth in Leicester. They got some opinions from the streets on a subject that a lot of you guys feel strongly about.

Smoker Turns Into Castaway!

Some people can get so hooked on nicotine in cigarettes that after years and years of smoking, they resort to crazy ways to quit the habit!

A millionaire has become a castaway on an uninhabited Scottish island – to try to quit smoking.

Geoff Spice, who has had a 30-a-day habit for 43 years, landed on the 16-hectare (40-acre) Sgarabhaigh in the Sound of Harris and will live there for a month.

Read more

Was it really worth him starting smoking in the first place?

See if you can escape the pressures and dangers of smoking in this platform game from the Serious Quitters Arcade!

Anti-Tobacco Protestor Makes a Statement!

An anti-tobacco protestor hijacked an art project in Trafalgar Square today. His stunt highlighted the deaths caused by the tobacco industry, and how they get Hollywood actors to promote their products. His sign showed the estimated figure of 1 billion deaths that could be caused by smoking this century.

Cigarette Machines are Totally out of Order!

The British Heart Foundation wants a total ban on cigarette vending machines. These machines let 46,000 children a year get hold of cigarette packets in England and Wales! Yesterday, QUIT and the British Heart Foundation were at the House of Lords to present this undercover video podcast to some very important MPs:



BHF helped to get these machines banned from Scotland. We think that the video podcast shows how important it is for them to be taken out of English and Welsh pubs.

Check out the British Heart Foundation's campaign site here.

The Smoker's Body

When you choose to smoke, you're also choosing to risk life and limb(s) by exposing yourself to the potential of many serious diseases.



Based on 'The Smoker's Body' originally produced by COLORS magazine #21, July - August 1997.

Try the interactive version here.

Serious Quitters Arcade!

We now have a gaming arcade where you can test your button-bashing, platforming and aiming skills in three different games. See if you can top the highscore table! Play them all here for free.



The arcade - made by Pfizer and Emakina - was nominated for a 2009 Webby Award.

31st May 2009 is World No Tobacco Day

The World Health Organization's annual World No Tobacco Day is on the 31st of May. This year's campaign is promoting the use of shocking images on cigarette packets instead of making them seem cool (which they're obviously not) with slick packaging. They're pretty effective as you can see.

Check out WHO's official page about the day, where you can see their posters and flyers and read more about the issues.

Last year's campaign was all about how cigarettes are portrayed by the media as glamorous fashion accessories. The tobacco industry also uses the media to target young people through advertising.

The tobacco industry spends billions of dollars each year spreading its marketing net as widely as possible to attract young customers, targetting youth in fun and familiar environments, at the movies, on the internet, in fashion magazines, and at music concerts and sports events.

Last year's site is still full of great information and interesting videos!

In related news, Ireland will ban tobacco advertisements starting from July.

Retailers will have to ensure tobacco products are kept out of sight in shops from July 1, under strict new Department of Health guidelines.

The guidelines also warn that not even a hint of any tobacco advertising can be visible in the shops.

In addition, customers must be shown just one packet of cigarettes at a time.

Read more

Quit Because on Britain's Next Top Model!

Last night, LivingTV aired episode 4 of Britain's Next Top Model 5. The show culminated in a photoshoot which promoted several charities by visually depicting their respective causes. One of those charities was QUIT, with Quit Because presenter Alison Walsh in the studio providing the contestants with expert advice on how to portray the effects of smoking!

You can read The Sun's article previewing the episode here.

Photographs courtesy of Britain’s Next Top Model on Living.

Check out the footage below, with Quit Because and Ali featured at 0:40 and 8:38 into the video!

Ex-smokers happier and wealthier

inthenews.co.uk has an article on some research conducted by Cancer Research UK showing that giving up smoking not only benefits your state of mind but your wallet or purse too!

New research has claimed ex-smokers are 'overwhelmingly' happier after quitting.

The study by Cancer Research UK found more than two thirds of non-smokers polled said they felt better since giving up.

The length of time since quitting also affected the level of happiness. Ex-smokers who had stopped more than a year ago reported feeling happier than ex-smokers who had stopped within the last year.

Even among ex-smokers who had recently stopped a large majority felt happier than when they smoked.

Read more

British Annual Tobacco's AGM Demonstation

ASH Wales organized a demonstration outside the annual general meeting of BAT last week. Quit Because presenters Ed, Hayley and Michelle joined forces and protested out on the frontline.

It was good to see some really enthusiastic young people from London, Wales and Liverpool challenging members of the tobacco company. They did it in a polite and friendly way but really drove the point across. They also made some really great banners.

- Hayley

Last year, ASH and Ffaith laid out 1,000 shoes outside the BAT's AGM to symbolise the 100,000 Africans killed by BAT products each year.

British Annual Tobacco is one of the largest tobacco companies in the world. The tobacco industry is well aware of the risks of smoking, yet they continue to endanger people’s health and negatively affect the environment.

Martin Broughton, BAT's executive chairman, advised his children not to smoke, according to an interview in the Times. He said his son and daughter do not smoke but that he would have warned them if he "caught them behind the bike sheds" when they were younger.

"I said to them, 'I would advise you not to smoke. But if you want to smoke it is your affair. It is not good for you. You are better off not smoking'."

Read more about what the tobacco industry really thinks.