World Smokefree Day

Today is world smoke free day YAY!! And that makes it a great day to give up on the old sticks, or at least a great day to have a day off them. I personally don’t smoke but I know many people who do and it does scare me to think that because they smoke they are in danger of dying early, as one in two long term smokers who don’t quit, will die early. It is a fact that in New Zealand smoking is the single leading cause of preventable death, and every year we lose 5,000 people from smoking related illnesses.

And it’s not just themselves who smokers are hurting. New Zealand research shows students who had at least one parent who smoked were three times more likely to be daily smokers, compared with those whose parents didn’t. Also every day one non-smoker dies as a result of exposure to second hand smoke. That’s 350 New Zealanders every year who die because they inhaled the toxins from someone else’s smoke. Sidestream smoke (smoke from the burning end of a cigarette) contains cancer-causing chemicals which are more highly concentrated than those in the smoke inhaled by a smoker.

So if you’re a smoker and you don’t plan on giving up anytime soon, make sure that when your about to light up you look around you first and ask yourself; Where are my children? Is anyone going to walk through my plume of smoke? And if you find that it may effect someone move to somewhere safe for others. It always disgusts me when I see a mother smoking in the car while her children are sitting in the back seat breathing in all of the smoke that’s drifting back to them.

So today I challenge all of you who smoke to either try giving up, even just for one day, or at least be more aware of who’s around you when you’re smoking. You won’t believe how good you’ll feel if you kick the habit. And it’ll be great on your pocket! Thus you can go buy those jeans you’ve been dreaming about…