Quit Smoking - Graphic Australian Anti-Smoking Ad (Video)

As promised, here is an Australian Anti-smoking Ad that will definitely make you say "I'll quit smoking today!" The Australian government are very serious about their campaign to urge people to stop smoking.

via Youtube

Quit Smoking - Australia Proposes Tough Cigarette Packaging Rules

via Flickr (estherase)

SYDNEY (AP) — Tobacco companies in Australia will be forced to strip all logos from their cigarette packages and replace them with graphic images such as cancer-riddled mouths and sickly children under legislation unveiled Thursday — a move the government says will make Australia the world's toughest country on tobacco advertising.

The law would remove one of the tobacco companies' last methods of advertising by banning them from printing their logos, promotional text or colorful images on cigarette packs. Instead, brand names will be printed in a small, uniform font, and the packets will be a dull olive green — a color the government believes consumers will hate.

"This plain packaging legislation is a world first and sends a clear message that the glamour is gone — cigarette packs will now only show the death and disease that can come from smoking," Health Minister Nicola Roxon said in a statement. "The new packs have been designed to have the lowest appeal to smokers and to make clear the terrible effects that smoking can have on your health."

Tobacco companies have been fighting the legislation and threatening legal action since the government first announced its plan last year. The law would be phased in over six months, starting in January 2012.

The legality of the measure and whether it violates trademark laws is a matter of debate among experts.British American Tobacco, which produces several cigarette brands including Winfield, Dunhill and Benson, will probably launch legal action against the government over the legislation, spokesman Scott McIntyre said.

"What company would stand for having its brands, which are worth billions, taken away from them?" McIntyre said. "A large brewing company or fast food chain certainly wouldn't and we're no different."

Smoking rates have been declining in Australia for years, but the government says cigarettes still kill 15,000 Australians a year and cost the country about $31.5 billion annually.

Tobacco advertising on billboards and in magazines has long been banned and restrictions on smoking in public places, including restaurants and bars, are common.

Public health advocates said the move to strip packages of their enticing images goes one critical step further, and will have a particularly big impact on children.

"Our research shows that the look of the pack is an important consideration for young people at risk of being drawn to smoking," Ian Olver, CEO of Cancer Council Australia, said in a statement. "So this move by the Australian government has the potential to be one of the most significant public health measures in recent history."

Other countries, such as Britain and Canada, have considered packaging restrictions in the past, but none of the measures has passed, in part because of legal questions.

The government is required under the constitution to pay compensation to anyone from whom it takes or devalues property, including intellectual property such as trademarks. But opinions are split on what the implications of those rules, and international trade laws, are in the case of cigarette packages.

Matthew Rimmer, a legal expert at The Australian National University, said the government is fully within its power to regulate the packaging of tobacco products.

"Trademarks are a government grant and governments always retain the capacity to regulate that grant," said Rimmer, who wrote a paper urging plain packaging of cigarettes in 2008. "So historically they've always had the provisions, for instance, to ban trademarks on certain things that are contrary to law."

Tim Wilson, an intellectual property and free trade expert at the Institute of Public Affairs in Australia, disagrees, saying the measure would violate international trademark and intellectual property regulations. Stripping the tobacco companies' logos from packaging diminishes the value of their trademarks, which is against the law, he said.

Threats of legal action from the tobacco industry will do nothing to dissuade the government from moving forward with the plan, said Roxon, the health minister.

"We believe we are on very strong legal grounds," she told journalists in Sydney. "We're not going to have 'big tobacco' scaring us with legal action. We want to make sure that the glamour that might have been attached to smoking in the past is dead and gone."

Article Source

Do you think this will push through? Well, in a future post we will include a sample of an Autralian campaign against smoking. So if I were you, I'd quit smoking today!

Quit Smoking - Today!

via Flickr (fuzzcat)

Once you have decided to quit smoking today, you have over come the biggest hurdle, as trying to quit without really wanting to, is not going to be easy. The decision to quit gives way to new questions: How to start, what can you eat/drink to help, how to lessen cravings... it's not really as difficult as you think; once you've made your mind up to quit smoking today, it's just like going on a diet. A little more difficult of course, as smoking is an addiction and like any other addiction, is very tough to break.

Try to set yourself a routine of diet and exercise and other aids, and stick to it. During the first 72 hours or so you will need to drink plenty of acidic fruit juice to help remove the alkaloid nicotine buildup in your body and to help stabilize blood sugar levels.

The best of these is cranberry juice, which will do the job whilst supplying your body with an abundance of vitamins and nutrients.

Fresh fruit and vegetables are a must, along with whole grains, seeds and nuts. You should be able to avoid gaining too much weight if you eat sensibly; weight gain is often associated with quitting smoking, this is because not only are you inclined to eat more to help stave off cravings, but smoking increases the metabolic rate and you will burn calories quicker, so obviously when you first quit you should try to adjust your calorie intake, at least until the metabolism returns to normal.

The best way to quit smoking is to take it one day at a time; follow an exercise routine, even if it's only walking, and find something to keep you occupied in idle moments. Many smokers agree that it's not only the craving for nicotine, but what to do with their hands when not working or otherwise occupied. Depending on your skills, try sketching (or just doodle drawing) knitting, writing; anything which keeps hands busy. Keeping a diary or journal is a good idea, as not only does it give your hands something to do, but you can keep an account of your progress; how you felt, how difficult/easy the day had been, things you had to eat or drink and how they helped, and so on. Open with "I decided to quit smoking today" and on each day re-affirm your commitment to quit.

You will definitely need something to snack or nibble on throughout the day, so arm yourself with plenty of healthy low-cal snacks: grapes and cherries are good, or cherry tomatoes (anything small which you can pick at individually) or sticks of celery are ideal, as not only will celery help calm cravings, but the body actually burns calories while digesting it! So there's a double bonus in eating celery.

The decision to quit smoking today was a difficult one to take, but having done so proves that you have strength of character and willpower, so you should be able to stick to your plan without too much difficulty. Trial and error will find the best way to quit smoking for you, but if you decide you need help, then that's okay too. There is always a solution, an easy way to quit smoking today.

Article Source

Quit Smoking - E-Cigarettes the Better Alternative, now in the Philippines!

Great news for all cigarette and non-cigarette smokers. At long last, the answer to a clean, healthy and safe smoke-free environment has finally arrived in the country, in full-support of the Department of Health’s (DOH) anti-lung cancer and healthy heart campaign. Electronic-Cigarette –dubbed the “healthier alternative to smoking” was recently launched in the Philippines by an all-Filipino owned firm – Denkat Trading, whose mission is provide Filipinos who ‘love the habit of smoking’ break its deadly side effects to healthy long life via what is considered a ‘healthier-option’ to smoking tobacco products –cigarettes, cigars or pipes. This world-famous electronic cigarette is a battery-powered device that provides inhaled doses of non-nicotine vaporized solution commonly called the ‘E-Juice’ or ‘E-Liquid’ which in turn, eliminates cancer substances that has led many a smoker to develop deadly cancer cells that attacks people regardless of age factor.

It also protects non-smokers from inhaling 2nd hand smoke that is bad for both the lungs and the heart, plus prevents the formation of yellow teeth (often called ‘smokers teeth’), the proliferation of air-pollution that hampers free-flow of oxygen, and is non-fire hazard. Aside from its health-factors, E-cigarette users get to save almost P14,000 per year, based on a two-pack per day consumption for one-year.

Free demonstration and digital display of E-Cigarettes may be seen at the following venues: 3rd Floor, Robinson’s Place Manila, M. Adriatico Street, Malate, Manila; 2nd Floor, Centermall (2 Bldg.) Tutuban Mall, CM Recto street, Manila; 1st Floor, 1S01 Phase 5 Bldg. 168 Shopping Mall, Soler street, Sta. Cruz, Manila and at SM Sta. Mesa 1st Floor, Ramon Magsaysay Street, Quezon City. Interested health enthusiasts may receive free info/data on the BFAD-Approved Denkat Electronic Cigaretes, via its Secretariat Office @ 257-0459/577-1962 or visit www.pcrus.ph.

Article Source

Quit Smoking - Health Risks of Smoking

via Flickr

Most people are fully aware that smoking can lead to lung cancer, but in fact the health risks in smoking are much further reaching.

Cancer of the lungs is only one of the risks run by smokers. Smoking is a high risk factor for several kinds of cancer including mouth, larynx, pharynx, esophagus, kidney, pancreas, bladder, cervix and stomach as well as some types of leukemia.

As well as cancer, smoking can cause other lung diseases as in pneumonia, emphysema and chronic bronchitis. These diseases which come under the term of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD can cause chronic illness and disabilities and can also be fatal. Long-term smokers carry the highest risk of COPDs

Vascular disease: narrowing or clogging of blood vessels can lead to all kinds of problems. Peripheral vascular disease affects blood vessels feeding the leg and arm muscles.

Problems in the blood vessels feeding the heart can lead to heart disease and heart attacks, and blocked vessels to the brain can cause a stroke. Men who smoke can find blood vessel disease will cause erectile dysfunction.

Eyesight can be affected by smoking: health risks in smoking include increased risk of macular degeneration, sometimes leading to blindness. Also premature ageing and wrinkling of the skin, halitosis or bad breath, tooth and gum disease, yellowing and brittle fingernails, not to mention revolting smelling hair and clothes.

Expectant or nursing mothers have some unique health risks in smoking, to themselves as well as the new life they are carrying. Women (particularly over 35) who smoke and also take oral contraceptives have a very high risk of heart attack, stroke and thrombosis. Smoking carries a high risk of miscarriage or babies born underweight; which are more likely to have physical problems, learning difficulties or even risk of death. Nicotine can be passed into breast milk as well as cervical fluids, amniotic fluids and umbilical cord.

One of the main health risks in smoking is a shortening of life expectancy: the CDC estimates an adult male will lose an average of 13.2 years of life and females 14.5 years, due to smoking. Add to that the risk of diseases during their lifetime which can impair the quality of life long before that. Even without contracting a disease, smoker’s activities are limited by difficulties in breathing and moving around, both at work and play.

The health benefits in quitting are more than just decreasing the health risks in smoking:

Just 20 minutes after quitting your blood pressure will drop and your heart rate decrease

2 hours afterwards the carbon monoxide level in the blood returns to normal

Between two weeks and three months after quitting, blood circulation will improve and lung function increase.

Anywhere between one and nine months after quitting you will notice a marked decrease in coughing and shortness of breath. Lungs will start to regain their normal cilia function (these are hair-fine elements in the lungs that dispel mucus) and increase their ability to handle mucus and reduce risk of infection. The lungs will begin to be cleansed from the inside.

After the first year of not smoking, you have reduced the risk of ordinary heart disease by half, compared to a smoker.

Five years on, your risk of stroke is reduced dramatically, and between 5-15 years the risk will be the same as that of a non-smoker.

After 10 years the death rate from lung cancer is reduced by half, compared to a continuing smoker.

Apart from the health risks in smoking, what about the money you spend? Look at the price you spend a day on cigarettes and multiply that by 365. Wow! How much do you spend in a year! Multiply it by 10, and think what you could have done with all that money instead of burning it over 10 years!

All this cost, along with the health risks in smoking must surely give you reason to quit. Find yourself a quit smoking plan and start it right away!

Article Source

Quit Smoking - Shocking Effects of Smoking (Video)

via Youtube

After watching this video about the effects of smoking, do you still want to smoke? Stop smoking today and save yourself and your loved ones!