There’s no better time to quit smoking tobacco
Over 1 billion people worldwide smoke tobacco. Nearly 80% of those who smoke are in low-income countries. Tobacco-related diseases and death have the greatest impact due to no welfare systems. They also don’t have good access to good quit smoking programmes.
The only people who benefit from smoking are the shareholders in tobacco companies. The fat cats. In fact, I used that imagery on a client who loathed the fact he was paying people who were earning millions from addiction. They are no better than drug cartels.
Over 7 million people across the globe die by smoking Tobacco. The obvious risks are cancer. To the mouth, the throat, the oesophagus, the lungs and liver. Our liver processes all the toxins which enter our bodies through the fine villi in the lungs. Toxins such as Benzene, Formaldehyde, Tar, Carbon Monoxide, Nicotine and Acetone.
But it’s not just the person who smokes that’s affected by the habit, it’s also those around them who passively smoke. 900,000 people are killed by breathing in second-hand smoke each year according to the World Health Organisation.
Gradually over the years more and more legislation has been put in place to try and reduce where smoking can be carried out and it has made the world a nicer smelling place as well as being less hazardous to those of us who have never smoked or even want to smoke. It always saddens me when I see someone who asks to have smoking cessation that they don’t care what their smoking is doing to others, especially their children. Not caring about its effects on family pets is equally upsetting.
Smoking is often a habit enjoyed with a drink down the pub. This makes it difficult to manage sometimes because the alcohol affects our cognition. Once that happens it becomes difficult to keep tabs on how much we have drunk or smoked at any one session. Many people lapse because of a friend insisting “go on, just have one. You can stop tomorrow” only to find they can’t. If you do stop. STOP FOR GOOD!
Smokers are bad for business
The amount of downtime a smoker has is considerably more than a non-smoker. Wander around the streets of London in the city and you see loads of people standing outside in all weather puffing away. Some use it as an excuse for networking, but to the outsider, they are perceived in a negative way. If you’re an employer, do you really want to promote this image or lose precious time with your employees standing around?
Also see: Smoking cessation
And: Stroke
Plus: High blood pressure