Smoking will be banned in all public places in England from 1st July. Dr Chris Steele gives his tips on how to quit.

The UK Smoking ban means there has never been a better time to quit smoking. Dr Chris gives his advice.

On the 1st July 2007 England follows Scotland and Wales in banning smoking in all public places You will now no longer be able to light up in pubs, clubs, bars, restaurants, train stations, offices – even taxis and mini-cabs. In fact anywhere that is a public place, including all places where people work, will be included in the ban.

So if you are a smoker, there has never been a better time to quit this dangerous and unhealthy habit.

Some Facts about smoking
  • Around 10 million adults smoke cigarettes in Great Britain - this is about a quarter of the population (25% of men and 23% of women)
  • Smoking is highest among 20-24 year olds: 34% of men and 30% of women smoke.
  • Declines in smoking have been concentrated in older people. Almost as many young people still start smoking today but more established smokers are quitting.
  • About half of all regular cigarette smokers will eventually be killed by their addiction.
  • Every year, around 114,000 smokers in the UK die from smoking related causes.
  • Over 80% of smokers start as teenagers. In the United Kingdom about 450 children start smoking every day.
  • The Government earned £8,000 million in revenue from tobacco duty (ex VAT) in 2005-06. They spent £23m on education campaigns and spent £52m to help people stop smoking.


Nicotine:
A drug that latches on to nicotinic receptors in the brain which produce 'feel-good' chemicals - dopamine, serotonin and noradrenaline and boost your mood. Nicotine replacement therapy works by providing a proportion of the nicotine a people would get from cigarettes. A cigarette gives a person a nicotine hit in seven seconds. The fastest delivery time from an NRT product is five minutes - this is from a nasal spray. When someone stops smoking and their blood level of nicotine falls, they usually develop withdrawal symptoms such as restlessness, increased appetite, inability to concentrate, irritability, dizziness, constipation, nicotine craving, or just feeling awful. These symptoms begin within a few hours after having the last cigarette. If they are not relieved by the next cigarette, withdrawal symptoms get worse. If some does not smoke any more cigarettes, the withdrawal symptoms peak after about 24 hours, and then gradually ease over about 2-4 weeks.

It takes 8 hours for the nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in a smokers blood to reduce by half and for oxygen levels to return to normal, if they stop smoking. If they do not have another cigarette, CO levels will be back to normal in 48 hours and circulation improves within two weeks. In two and half year the excess risk of heart disease would have halved. It takes 10 years after giving up smoking for the risk of lung cancer to fall to about half what it would have been if the person had carried on smoking. Non smokers are gifted with an extra 12 years of life on average.

So if you want to quit smoking, why not try my 10 Point Quit Smoking Plan


This content was created on Thu 28 June 2007

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