There are hundreds of reasons to quit… what’s yours?

January 17, 2011

January 16 – 22 is National Non-Smoking Week (NNSW) 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Ottawa

There are ever increasing supports to help people who want to quit. There are nicotine replacement therapies (gum, patch, lozenge, etc), 1 800 quit lines, quit websites, seminars and support groups, etc. To learn more, speak to your pharmacist, family physician or contact your local public health unit.

NNSW is held towards the end of January in order to help support and encourage the many individuals who make a New Year’s resolution to improve their life and the lives of their loved ones by choosing to quit. There are as many reasons to quit as there are individual smokers – hence the question posed by this year’s theme – what’s yours?

The 2011 theme is supported by five posters offering a range of answers to this important question. They are:
Reason #23: Cigarette filters could contain pig's blood...
Reason #76: Polonium 210 — who wants to smoke that?
Reason #103: Monkey see, monkey do
Reason #238: It could cost you an arm and a leg!
Reason #401: To save a gene a day

Why be Concerned about Tobacco Use?
According to the Canadian Council for Tobacco Control’s (CCTC) President, Manuel Arango, “tobacco use remains the most significant cause of preventable disease, disability, and premature death in Canada, responsible for more than 37,000 deaths every year. Tobacco use can cause or exacerbate cancers, heart and lung disease, stroke, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis to name a few. It costs more to the Canadian health care system and economy than it brings into provincial and national coffers in terms of tax revenue.”

NNSW has been observed for more than 30 years and is one of the longest running and most important events in the CCTC’s ongoing public education efforts regarding the consequences of tobacco use. Its goals are:
• to educate Canadians about the dangers of smoking;
• to prevent people who do not smoke from beginning to smoke and becoming addicted to tobacco;
• to help people quit smoking;
• to promote the right of individuals to breathe air unpolluted by tobacco smoke;
• to denormalize the tobacco industry, tobacco industry marketing practices, tobacco products, and tobacco use; and
• to assist in the attainment of a smoke-free society in Canada.

To view the 2011 posters, to learn more about these issues, or to learn more about NNSW, please visit nnsw.ca

- 30 -

Robert Walsh
Canadian Council for Tobacco Control
Executive Director
613 567-3050


For more information contact:
Robert Walsh
Executive Director
Canadian Council for Tobacco Control
Phone: 613-567-3050

Click here to view our Sources Listing:

Canadian Council for Tobacco Control

Topics:

• Cardiovascular Diseases
• Cigarette Addiction
• Cigarillos
• Contraband
• Denormalization
• Display Bans
• Electronic Cigarettes (e-cigarettes)
• Harm Reduction/Drugs & Alcohol
• Health Promotion
• Health Research
• Knowledge Transfer
• Legislation
• Marketing to Children
• Menthol
• National Non-Smoking Week
• Nicotine
• Nicotine Replacement Therapy
• Non-Smokers
• Power Walls
• Public Health
• Respiratory Diseases
• Secondhand Smoke
• Smoke-free Policies
• Smoke-Free Spaces
• Smokeless Tobacco
• Smoking Bans
• Smoking Cessation
• Snus
• Third-hand smoke
• Tobacco Addiction
• Tobacco Additives
• Tobacco Advertising Bans
• Tobacco Control
• Tobacco Diseases
• Tobacco Flavours
• Tobacco Industry
• Tobacco Research
• Tobacco Statistics
• Tobacco Taxation
• Weedless Wednesday
• World No-Tobacco Day
• Youth/Smoking