Smoke Free Solutions

Top Tips from No Smoking Day Prize Winners

2011-01-04T11:21:00.004Z

In 2010 one of the most successful No Smoking Day (NSD) campaigns was run by NHS Barking and Dagenham. Their refreshing and energetic approach helped to generate real buzz and proven results.

They achieved this in a number of ways including using the whole week in the build up to the day and four different locations throughout their Borough. They contacted local leisure centres to organise NSD themed exercise classes, and to offer a scheme whereby people signing up to quit received one month’s free membership. They also helped trained occupational nurses to hold drop-in ‘are you fit to quit’ sessions from the council’s transport & cleaning depots. This helped raise awareness about quitting & encourage access amongst routine & manual workers.

All of these activities were widely publicised using internal communications and promotional materials in all council buildings in the lead up. They also placed NSD materials at all the local Pharmacies, GP’s and health centres.

Young People
One of their main focuses for the campaign was young people. To do this they ran two messages. ‘Save your skin’ was used for young women to help them realise the effect smoking would have on their appearance. For young men the message was ‘what’s your game plan’ highlighting the impact of smoking on performance on and off the pitch.

Nine local secondary schools facilitated stalls which were staffed by students and assisted by the schools health advisors. The NHS marketing team supplied promotional resources including banners, posters, t-shirts & business cards promoting NHS Barking & Dagenham youth health website & the local stop smoking service. April Age Progression software was used in three of the schools to help demonstrate the aging effects of smoking and was particularly well received by staff and students alike.

An intensive advertising campaign was integral to the success of this campaign. The team issued press releases both before and after NSD week, using the templates on the NSD website. A real success was having these picked up by several local media, and also in getting a 2 page spread in the local newspaper.

5 top tips for running a successful campaign.
• Plan well in advance
• Promote local services as free
• Track website hits to help determine which advertising is most effective.
• Schools are very enthusiastic – get in there early!
• Create opportunities to link in with more partners.

Here Comes the Quitting Season

2011-01-04T09:53:00.001Z

It’s official – more people try to quit smoking in January and March than in any other months of the year.

First up are the New Year quitters – keen to make the most of their New Year’s resolutions and kick the habit. Then comes the ‘No Smoking Day effect’, with the high profile media coverage supported by hundreds of stop smoking events being held all over the UK. Add together the quit attempts for January and March, and we should see around 15% of smokers – over 1.5million people – making a ‘serious’ attempt to stop smoking.

Research by Professor Robert West et al, published in the BMJ in 2010, looked at the cost-effectiveness of No Smoking Day as a method of encouraging smokers to quit. The research used data collected since 2006 from the ‘Smoking Toolkit Study’ – a monthly survey of smoking behaviour in England. It shows clear ‘peaks’ in quit attempts each New Year, and again each March as No Smoking Day hits the headlines as it has done every March since 1984. The next No Smoking Day falls on Wednesday 9th March 2011.

GASP's all new 'Calibration Service'

2010-08-16T09:11:00.003+01:00

The final special offer for August is a reduced price on a great new service that GASP are offering. Just click on the image or read below for more details

Let GASP calibrate your Smokerlyzer for you!
To ensure the advice you give is backed up with accurate CO readings, we recommend that you recalibrate your CO breath monitor every six months. If your CO monitor is not regularly recalibrated there is an increasing risk of it giving inaccurate readings.

If you send us your piCO+ or Micro+ Smokerlyzer, whatever its age, GASP will calibrate it and check it is in full working order. We will then fit a brand new D-piece or T-piece and send it back to you with a pack of 50 disposable flat pack mouthpieces. All postage & packing charges are included in the price. We will supply you with suitable pre-paid packaging so that you can send it to us.

Simply send us your address in the comments form when ordering and we will send you the pre-paid packaging.

Normally this would be £24.95+VAT but for a limited time all this is available for just £19.95+VAT per calibration.

See the GASP Website for full terms and conditions

Gasp August Special Offers

2010-08-13T14:30:00.002+01:00

A massive 9 Special offers are featured on the gasp website this month. Below you can find 8 of them with the 9th to have its own feature in the next post. Click on the pictures below for more info on how to buy.

1. Smokefree Poster Pack

A colourful selection of 5 posters using a smokefree theme. These include 2 smokefree home posters, the original GASP poster, You Smoke I Choke smokefree home, and two interesting No Smoking posters. Use to give away or in displays.

2. Smokfree Homes Fridge Magnet Pack

A pack of 10 Smokefree homes fridge magnets for families to use in their kitchen as a simple but cheerful reminder to keep the home smokefree. Use for handouts on stalls, in goody bags or as a small gift to families signing up to make their homes smokefree. Reduced to just £3 for a limited time

3. 50 Great reasons to have a smokefree home & car Pack

A pack of 25 leaflets with 50 great reasons why the car and home homes should be a smokefree zone at all times. Children and pregnant women are particularly at risk from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke. The smokefree home message is for smokers and non-smokers who may allow visitors or family members to smoke indoors. The 50 reasons include the health risks of passive smoking to adults and children, as well as reasons of smell, damage to furniture, cleaning and being a good role model. The 50 reasons are followed by some helpful tips on how to make your home smokefree.

4. Quit Kit Pack

A selection pack containing 10 copies of the 12 most popular Quit Kit handouts. An ideal resource pack for anyone who advises and helps smokers to stop smoking. The Quit Kit handouts guide smokers through the steps to stopping, from listing their reasons and deciding how addicted they are to nicotine, to planning their quit day, dealing with withdrawal symptoms and coping with stress, weight concerns and increasing exercise. They can be given out as a set or individually as and when a person requires them. The list of included Quit Kit handouts are on the gasp website, just click the image above.

5. Fact File Pack

This pack contains 10 of each of the 10 most popular Fact Files. A broad range of tobacco and smoking related topics are covered including; a summary of the diseases related to smoking, a brief outline of the poisons in tobacco smoke, details of how smoking damages the lungs and information on roll ups, marijuana, pipes, cigarette butt litter, pets and passive smoking and more. Ideal for teachers, campaigners and health workers who are looking for answers to common questions about smoking and health. The full list of included Fact Files can be seen on the GASP website

6. Smokefree Homes Action Pack

Over 25% of GASP's popular pack which features ideas and information to help you to educate parents and to use a range of resources to promote and run community-based campaigns to reduce children's exposure to secondhand smoke.

7. Smokefree Homes Powerpoint CD

For a limited time this great teaching aid is available with over 20% off

8. Tobacco trap DVD

Now with over 25% off!

Excellent documentary looking at the true cost of tobacco in developing countries, with a focus on East Africa. Interviews with tobacco farmers, smokers, health advocates and Government representatives reveal that a farmer makes one dollar a day from growing tobacco while the tobacco industry make a clear 12 million dollars a day.

Product Focus: TobacAlert

2010-06-22T14:10:00.002+01:00

TobacAlert is an accurate and cost effective way of testing the levels of cotininea biproduct of the body's breakdown of nicotine, the active ingredient found in tobacco products and tobacco smoke.

Available as both a urine and saliva test.

Click here for more details

June Special Offers on the GASP website (Prt 2)

2010-06-08T11:51:00.005+01:00

6 more excellent value special offers from GASP for June 2010:

NEW Give tobacco the sack race (5)

Set of 5 sacks with benefits of a being smokefree printed on the sacks. Give tobacco the sack and keep fit at the same time.

For adults or children.

For details on the special offer click HERE

Splat the fag tube, 3x Fags and stick

Hang the large cigarette tube and challenge people to ‘Splat the Fag’ with the stick as they drop out of the bottom of the tube.

This includes a large cigarette tube, 3 stuffed ‘Fags’ to drop down the tube one by one, and a stick to try and ‘splat’ the fags with.

To find out about this great special offer click HERE

Effects of smoking pairs

20 pairs of full colour cards showing the effects of smoking. The cards are laid face down and players are invited to turn over two cards at a time. If you turn over a pair you can take those cards and continue playing. Fun way to look at the serious subject of the risks of smoking. The cards can also be used for darts games or as a prop for the for a fortune teller.

For a limited time only save 25% on this product. Click HERE for details

Stick the No on the Smoker

Stick a NO on the Smoker is an adaptation of Stick the Tail on the Donkey. People are blindfolded and are invited to stick a transparent sticker printed with a red prohibition sign onto the poster of a man smoking. The name of each person is noted onto the poster near their sticker. The person whose sticker makes the cigarette into a no smoking sign wins!

Set comprises an A4 poster and 12 stickers.

Click HERE to buy at a reduced price

Hook the smokefree ducks

12 ducks swimming in a pool to hide their toxic or tobacco-free status. Invite people to hook 3 ducks. Award prizes if they get 1, 2, or 3 of the smokefree ducks. All the others display toxic hazard signs to remind people of the chemical cocktail contained in tobacco smoke. Set includes 12 ducks with metal loops and signs on their underside, six sticks and hooks and an inflatable duck pool for the ducks to swim in. Use with information about the toxins in tobacco smoke.

Click HERE for more pictures and details on how to buy

Smokefree Bunting

Multi-coloured 10 metre lengths of polythene bunting with a no-smoking sign. Use to decorate and attract attention to your smokefree events, No Smoking Day stalls, stop smoking recruitment events, Smokefree Homes projects and any tobacco control campaign. Adds instant colour and sets the scene. One is enough for a small space but larger spaces will need more than one.

Again click HERE for all the details of the special offer and more pictures .

June Special Offers on the GASP website (Prt 1)

2010-06-08T09:09:00.004+01:00

GASP have announced another 9 brilliant special offers on their site and you can find details below. Just click on the link for details on how to take advantage.

Young People Leaflet Selection

A popular selection of 100 leaflets on tobacco prevention issues for young people. Each pack contains ten leaflets of ten different titles.

The leaflets cover factual information about smoking and health such as Looking Closer at Smoking and Smoking and your Mouth and Smoking Kills Your Looks. Others are more light-hearted such as Joking about Smoking and I’d Rather Eat a Hair Sandwich than Smoke a Cigarette. There are ones that cover a wide range of facts about tobacco and smoking. These include Smoking’s History, Frightening Facts about Smoking, and Ten Top Reasons to Stay Smokefree. Finally ‘For Real’ booklet covers a range of facts about smoking including ten tips for stopping smoking. There is something for every young person to encourage them to stay smokefree or to stop smoking if they do smoke.

A taster bundle of information at a special price.

Ten Top Reasons
Smoking and your mouth
Looking closer
For Real
I'd rather eat
Kills your looks
Smoking's History
What's in tobacco smoke
Joking about smoking
Frightening facts

Click on the links above for details on the individual leaflets or click HERE take advantage of this great offer.

Mixed Poster Selection
GASP posters with a black, red and yellow colour theme. Display together or separately. For maximum impact display with a black, yellow or red colour background or boards. The selection of 20 posters include 2 each of best selling posters covering a range of tobacco related issues. This includes:

Smoking prevention and education, staying smokefree, the health risks of smoking, reasons to quit and a warning about the damage tobacco companies inflict on our families and communities. Here is a list of the posters:

Lies
Big
Kiss
Stronger
Poisons
Reasons
Proud
Big Tobacco
Filters
John

Click HERE for details on how to buy

Skittles & Balls Set

Set of 9 Ciggie Skittles or pins that look like lit cigarettes. Can be used for skittles, hoopla or knocking off a ledge or just for decoration! Knock resistant.

Now for available with a set of 3 small, hard, wooden balls to roll at the skittles for a limited time at a reduced price of £25.00

Both skittles and balls are small and are more for use in confined spaces.

Click HERE for details on how to buy

Come back soon for details soon more of GASP's great June special offer

Smoking Legislation Signage

2010-06-01T12:18:00.008+01:00

Smokefree Legislation signage (no smoking signs and No smoking door stickers with Smokefree England wording available FREE (with £15 +VAT post and packing charge per box)

GASP has a quantity of the 2007 smokefree legislation signage with the standard 10.5 x 10.5 cm international no smoking signs and the A5 door signs with the England wording on. As the 3rd anniversary of the legislation approaches maybe you would like to refresh the signage and offer signs to those companies and business who do not display the signs. Or use them to give away on your summer stalls. Ask your local environmental health department if they would like supplies.

We have boxes containing:
Approximately 2400 no smoking signs that measure 10.5 x 10.5 cm
Approximately 1000 of the A5 size window/door sign stating “It is against the law to smoke on these premises’ (i.e. the adhesive is on the sign so you stick it on a window or glass door to show outside)

We only want to send these as complete boxes and do not want to send in smaller batches but we are prepared to do mixed boxes.

These are available free of charge (with £15 +VAT post and packing charge per box). If you want these signs please contact GASP on gasp [at] gasp.org.uk or telephone 0119 955 0101.

Product Focus: 10 Top Reasons DVD

2010-05-25T12:42:00.005+01:00

A fast moving film version of the best selling leaflet produced exclusively for gasp that briefly presents 10 reasons for not taking up tobacco. Using a colourful mix of facts and figures, body painting, interviews and humour, the action includes tobacco’s impact on health, wealth, complexion, pollution, addiction, fitness and freedom. Oh and saying no to those tobacco industry marketers who are represented as the blood sucking Count Tobacula.

Great for young people and any groups as a discussion starter.

for details on how to buys click here

World No Tobacco Day 2010 Special Offers 7 & 8:

2010-05-10T11:27:00.004+01:00

GASP's last two special offer for no smoking day are the two popular packs from April 'Smokefree Pregnancy/Smokefree Baby taster kit' and 'Smoke Free Homes Starter Pack'. See below for more details...

World No Tobacco Day 2010 Special Offers 7: Smoke Free Homes Starter Pack New research from the Royal College of Physicians reveals that adults smoking in the home leads to over 9,000 hospital admissions for children and over 30,000 GP visits for health problems such as chest and ear infections. Parents want to protect their children but sometimes need advice and encouragement to make the home 100% smokefree. This pack is all you need to run a smokefree homes project.

The pack includes a Smokefree Home Action pack and CD with a PowerPoint presentation and many downloadable letters, press releases and handouts. It also contains 4 smokefree homes posters and a stand up display poster in an acrylic stand. Information to hand out to parents includes 100 Smokefree Homes Pledge certificates, 150 each of Smokefree Homes and Smokefree Cars stickers and 150 of the 8 page Smokefree Homes leaflet ’50 Great Reasons for Making your Car and Home a Smokefree Zone’ including tips on how to achieve it. And to decorate your stall you will receive a 10 metre length of smokefree bunting and 20 balloons with different designs.

This pack is reduced to just £135 until World No Tobacco Day May 31st 2010

World No Tobacco Day 2010 Special Offers 8: Smokefree Pregnancy/Smokefree Baby taster kit
Stopping smoking before or during pregnancy is the best thing a woman can do to ensure the health of her unborn baby. This special price pack offers a taster range leaflets, posters and Smokefree Baby bibs and T-shirts to encourage pregnant women and their partners to quit.

Kit contents:
10 x Pregnant? There’s No Better Time to Quit Smoking
10 x Pregnant? That’s 2 Good Reasons to Stop Smoking
10 x 50 Blooming Good Reasons Not to Smoke when You’re Pregnant
10 x Staying Stopped After Pregnancy
10 CO leaflet including Foetal HbCO chart
1x Sales pack of 25 pregnancy posters
2 x Pregnant? That’s Two Good Reasons to Stop Smoking posters
2 x No Time like the Pregnant to Stop Smoking posters
2 x When you Smoke so Does your Baby posters
2 x Lucy Smokes 20 a day – So does her Mum
10 Smokefree Baby bibs
10 Smokefree Baby t-shirts
2 packs of 10 ‘Smokefree Baby’ balloons

All available at a reduced price of £74 and now extended until World N Tobacco Day on May 31st 2010

World No Tobacco Day 2010 Special Offers 6: NEW Passive smoking and children RCP Book

2010-05-10T10:41:00.008+01:00

Protecting children is a health priority. Adult smoking behaviour must radically change to achieve that. This report identifies the reasons why and what should be done to achieve it.
(Foreword by Sir Liam Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer)

Passive smoking is a major hazard to the health of millions of children who live with smokers. Although legislation in the UK has now prohibited smoking in enclosed public places and in workplaces, the vast majority of death and illness is caused by passive smoking in the home, rather than outside it.

As well as summarising data from hundreds of existing studies, this report sets out new research that quantifies just how damaging passive smoking in the home is to children, and the harm done to the fetus by maternal smoking. It also assesses the likelihood of adult smokers increasing the risk that their children will themselves become smokers.

The report estimates, for example, that over 20,000 cases of lower respiratory tract infection, 120,000 cases of middle ear disease, and at least 22,000 new cases of wheeze and asthma are all caused by passive smoking in children each year in the UK; and that around 23,000 young people take up smoking before the age of 16 as a result of exposure to smoking by others in their household.

The financial costs of the disease burden caused by passive smoking, the level of public support for further legislation, the ethical issues involved,and the policy responses that are needed to minimise exposure in the future, are all set out clearly in this seminal document. It should be read by health professionals in all areas, but particularly those working with children, in obstetrics and in public health, and by politicians, health policy-makers, and tobacco control charities, as well as members of the public interested in creating a healthier, smoke-free environment for all children.

Contents include:

Smoke-free legislation in the UK
Passive smoking in UK children
Effects of maternal active and passive smoking on fetal and reproductive health
Health effects of passive smoking in children
How much disease in children is caused by passive smoking?
Effect of parent and sibling smoking on smoking uptake
The costs of passive smoking in children
Public opinion on smoke-free policy
Ethics: children and smoking
Strategies to reduce passive smoking in children
Key conclusions and recommendations

For a limited time in the build up to World No Tobacco Day buy this product reduced to just £18

World No Tobacco Day 2010 Special Offers 5: Euro Inflatable Cigarettes (Pack of 10)

2010-05-10T09:27:00.005+01:00

An invaluable prop for photocalls, stalls and smoke-free events. Two messages: "Quit Smoking" on one side and "No Smoking" on the other. Includes hanging clips, cord and repair kit. The mostphotographed prop in local news clippings about stop smoking services, No Smoking Day, smoke-free policies. Examples: successful quitters holding it, stubbing it out or kicking it, fireman pointing a hose at it, strong man bending it, swimming and running relays and obstacle races.

In recognition of the upcoming World No Tobacco Day Gasp is offering over 25% off the Euro Language versions of our Inflatable Cigarettes. Buy ten of one language or a selection of different ones, just let us know by filling in the comments box when ordering on the GASP website.

World No Tobacco Day 2010 Special Offers 4: Women and Smoking Display/Leaflet Pack

2010-05-07T16:43:00.002+01:00

To celebrate World No Tobacco Day 2010 on the theme of Gender and Smoking with emphasis on women, GASP is offering the display set of 6 quality posters ‘Women and Smoking’ together with 100 leaflets of the same name at a reduced price of £24. The display and leaflet outlines the particular health risks for women smokers.

Click here for info on how to buy

piCO+ Smokerlyzer PACK

2010-05-07T14:58:00.002+01:00

To join the recent release of the brand new piCO+ smokerlyzer is the release of the full pack. With all of the same advantages of the new piCO+ and the extras from the old pack, this represents the best value for money way to buy the new piCO+. For more details read below or click HERE

piCO Smokerlyzer is the best-selling breath CO monitor used for motivating smokers to stop and for validating the smoking status.

Now improved to include:

Automatic Calibration reminder every six months
Larger screen for increased patient motivation
D-Piece renewal reminder every four weeks
Reset button under the battery cover to prevent monitors that have firmware problems from having to be sent back for repair

PLUS SteriTouch®. This new moulding effectively kills illness and infection causing bacteria on contact, including:

MRSA
E. coli
Salmonella

The advisor pack comes with a piCO Smokerlyzer together with an operating manual, 12 D-pieces, 25 mouthpieces, computer software, pregnancy and CO pack, infection control guide, cleansing wipes, batteries, Smokerlyzer chart, 2 posters and a new handy carry case.

Click here for more information and to order

World No Tobacco Day 2010 Special Offers 3: Smoking Kills Your Looks pack

2010-05-07T10:36:00.006+01:00

To celebrate World No Tobacco Day 2010 on the theme of Gender and Smoking with emphasis on women, GASP has compiled a pack of posters, leaflets, and bookmarks to inform young women about the risks of smoking to attractiveness.

The pack is available for a limited time at the reduced price of £18.00 comprises of one 'Like snogging an ashtray' poster, one 'So she said' poster, 50 'kills your looks' leaflets and 50 'Kills your looks' bookmarks

World No Tobacco Day 2010 Special Offers 2: Take a Closer Look at Smoking Pack

2010-05-07T10:09:00.003+01:00

This best selling A2 poster and matching leaflet using the body of a naked female smoker to warn how smoking damages that body on the inside. The pack is to celebrate World No Tobacco Day 2010 on the theme of women and smoking.

The pack contains 100 'A closer look' leaflet and the A2 poster 'If you think smoking makes you look good, look closer' at the special price of just £24

World No Tobacco Day 2010 Special Offers 1: No Smoking in 32 languages

2010-05-07T09:53:00.004+01:00

A ‘No Smoking’ and ‘Thank you for not smoking’ poster in over 30 languages. Very popular in community centres and schools and a good discussion point for ethnic minorities to find their language. Ne fumez pas SVP, Bitte nicht rauchen, Geen rook, Nao fumar, Dim ysmygu and No smoking in many Asian, Eastern European, Arabic, Turkish and African languages.

Buy 20 to use in all the public areas to celebrate World No Tobacco Day for the reduced price of just £10

World No Tobacco Day 2010

2010-05-07T09:21:00.007+01:00

Theme: Gender and tobacco with an emphasis on marketing to women

The World Health Organization (WHO) selects "Gender and tobacco with an emphasis on marketing to women" as the theme for the next World No Tobacco Day, which will take place on 31 May 2010.

Controlling the epidemic of tobacco among women is an important part of any comprehensive tobacco control strategy. World No Tobacco Day 2010 will be designed to draw particular attention to the harmful effects of tobacco marketing towards women and girls. It will also highlight the need for the nearly 170 Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to ban all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship in accordance with their constitutions or constitutional principles.

Women comprise about 20% of the world's more than 1 billion smokers. However, the epidemic of tobacco use among women is increasing in some countries. Women are a major target of opportunity for the tobacco industry, which needs to recruit new users to replace the nearly half of current users who will die prematurely from tobacco-related diseases.

Especially troubling is the rising prevalence of tobacco use among girls. The new WHO report, Women and health: today's evidence, tomorrow's agenda, points to evidence that tobacco advertising increasingly targets girls. Data from 151 countries show that about 7% of adolescent girls smoke cigarettes as opposed to 12% of adolescent boys. In some countries, almost as many girls smoke as boys.

World No Tobacco Day 2010 will give overdue recognition to the importance of controlling the epidemic of tobacco among women. As WHO Director-General Margaret Chan wrote in the aforementioned report, "protecting and promoting the health of women is crucial to health and development – not only for the citizens of today but also for those of future generations".
The WHO Framework Convention, which took effect in 2005, expresses alarm at "the increase in smoking and other forms of tobacco consumption by women and young girls worldwide".

Although the World No Tobacco Day 2010 campaign will focus on tobacco marketing to women, it will also take into account the need to protect boys and men from the tobacco companies' tactics. As WHO said in its 2007 report, Gender and tobacco control: a policy brief, "Generic tobacco control measures may not be equally or similarly effective in respect to the two sexes…[A] gendered perspective must be included…It is therefore important that tobacco control policies recognize and take into account gender norms, differences and responses to tobacco in order to…reduce tobacco use and improve the health of men and women worldwide".

In another 2007 report, Sifting the evidence: gender and tobacco control, WHO commented, "Both men and women need full information about the sex-specific effects of tobacco use…equal protection from gendered advertising and marketing and the development of sex-specific tobacco products by transnational tobacco companies…[and] gender-sensitive information about, and protection from, second-hand smoke and occupational exposure to tobacco or nicotine".

The WHO Framework Convention recognizes "the need for gender-specific tobacco control strategies", as well as for the "full participation of women at all levels of [tobacco control] policy-making and implementation [of tobacco control measures]".

On World No Tobacco Day 2010, and throughout the following year, WHO will encourage governments to pay particular attention to protecting women from the tobacco companies' attempts to lure them into lifetimes of nicotine dependence. By responding to WHO's call, governments can reduce the toll of fatal and crippling heart attacks, strokes, cancers and respiratory diseases that have become increasingly prevalent among women.

Tobacco use could kill one billion people during this century. Recognizing the importance of reducing tobacco use among women, and acting upon that recognition, would save many lives.

Click on the link below for more details or go to to the GASP website for loads of great special offers for World No Tobacco Day

http://www.who.int/tobacco/en/

Stop Before Your Op

2010-04-26T10:05:00.003+01:00

Gasp offers a wide range of resources which can help you to motivate smokers to stop, prepare them for quit day or help them to stay stopped. One of our ranges is 'Stop before your op' which includes a leaflet, poster, and bookmark which investigate the impact of smoking on recovery time, the damaging effect of Nicotine on to the production of red blood cells and how smoking affects bone growth and repair.
You can find the full details of the range on the GASP website or on the direct links below.

Leaflet
Poster
Bookmarks
As always, keep an eye on the GASP homepage or this blog for all the latest info on special offers and more

NEW PiCO+ with SteriTouch

2010-04-15T15:37:00.004+01:00

ccurate and flexible, the piCO+ Smokerlyzer is low cost and visually motivating. PiCO+ represents a new generation of Smokerlyzers. It can be adjusted for young people, pregnant women and adult smokers.

Now improved to include:

Automatic Calibration reminder every six months
Larger screen for increased patient motivation
D-Piece renewal reminder every four weeks
Reset button under the battery cover to prevent monitors that have firmware problems from having to be sent back for repair

PLUS SteriTouch®. This new moulding effectively kills illness and infection causing bacteria on contact, including:

MRSA
E. coli
Salmonella

Complete with 1 D-piece, 3 cardboard mouth pieces, batteries, instruction manual and a new handy carry case.

Cilck here to get details on how to purchase the NEW piCO+

GASP Special Offers - April 2010

2010-04-15T09:27:00.005+01:00

GASP have bundled together three more packs to help you get started with your smoking cessation sessions at reduced prices.

Smokefree Pregnancy/Smokefree Baby taster kit

Stopping smoking before or during pregnancy is the best thing a woman can do to ensure the health of her unborn baby. This special price pack offers a taster range leaflets, posters and Smokefree Baby bibs and T-shirts to encourage pregnant women and their partners to quit. For details on the pack's contents go to the GASP website

Blokes who smoke pack

A selection of GASP's posters and leaflets specifically designed to help blokes give up the smokes! Check the GASP Website for details on the packs contents

Smoke Free Homes Starter Pack

New research from the Royal College of Physicians reveals that adults smoking in the home leads to over 9,000 hospital admissions for children and over 30,000 GP visits for health problems such as chest and ear infections. Parents want to protect their children but sometimes need advice and encouragement to make the home 100% smokefree. This pack is all you need to run a smokefree homes project. Have a look at the GASP website for details on what the kit contains.

GASP represents global tobacco control at Imperial Tobacco’s AGM Bristol Tuesday 3 February 2010 by Cecilia Farren, Director of GASP

2010-03-09T16:54:00.001Z

I returned from the Imperial Tobacco AGM feeling my usual sense of hopelessness and depression at the sight of the company’s smug self congratulation, ever-growing sales, 16% payout in share dividends, worldwide demand and success. A row of 12 grey suited men and 2 grey suited women all sitting there on the board of directors looking sombre but very pleased with themselves at the same time.

Gareth Davis the CEO made his swan song speech as he is to retire in May and will be replaced by Alison Cooper, a 42 year old mother of two who has worked for Imperial for 11 years. She had a face like a wet weekend! The only person who every shows any cheeriness is Gareth Davis CEO. Still, earning approx $2.8million dollars a year I suppose he would wouldn’t he!

The chairman, Iain Napier, a dour Scotsman lacking any charm, and Gareth Davis CEO, between them told us how much sales were up all over the world, region by region, with Davidoff brand of cigarettes leading the way with sales up by 12%. The only brand in decline is West cigarettes. They commented that loose tobacco sales had increased in the UK since economic difficulties meant people travelled less and bought less cheap rolling tobacco overseas. He reported that when Gareth Davis took over as CEO in 1997, Imperial Tobacco was 14th in the world of tobacco companies. He said that in 12 years, it has risen to an international tobacco company which is now 4th in the world. I’ve been going to shareholder meetings with my handful of shares for over half that period since they became a plc company so I have witnessed their relentless rise spreading their tentacles over the world.

Plain packaging
The one thing which scored high ratings on the tobacco control ‘scream test’ was plain packaging. Gareth Davis warned, “We are strongly opposed to plain packing. Packaging does not make young people take up smoking nor adults continue to smoke.” He then continued , “but plain packaging will rob us of our brands.” Marketing their brands is one of their stated aims. He added with an understated determination, that Imperial does not resort to legal action lightly, but will do so in order to protect their brands.

I’ve never heard them be so outspoken against any proposed policy. They usually make comments about good sales despite bans and tax increases. But threats of plain packaging really provoke their wrath.

In their display cabinet of brands they had at the AGM were many new, trendy packaging designs for most of their brands. This shows how important they see packaging in the marketing of their products. Gareth Davis commented later that the prohibition of tobacco advertising makes building brand awareness more difficult. But he added, “…we are still able to promote our products. We have a great marketing department. We’re very good at it!”
They also reported falls in sales in Poland and Czech Republic due to increases in taxation. However they noted increase sales in USA, Saudi Arabia and Australia. Sales were up 10% overall.
Questions during the resolutions:
A campaigning shareholder who worked as a missionary in Africa asked many questions about Imperial’s corporate responsibility towards Africa. All got non committal answers except for the one about Malawi. He asked if Imperial encouraged farmers in Malawi to diversify as part of their corporate responsibility programme as Malawi farmers are over dependent on tobacco growing. Imperial CEO commented that it was for Malawi to decide and that they did very nicely out of tobacco so why should they want to change.

I asked the Imperial Tobacco board a few questions which had been sent to me from campaigners around the world. The first was a question about the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. In light of the FCTC resolution 5.3 how many meeting had Imperial Tobacco had with the UK Government and what was the purpose of these meetings. The reply was that had not nearly enough meetings, particularly in Scotland where no politician will speak to them. They insisted that it is a legal product and they need to talk to Government about taxation and other issues but they don’t seem to want to talk to the tobacco companies.
The next questions were about ETS/Secondhand smoke. Based on Imperial’s website which still denies that secondhand smoke is harmful, I asked, why is smoking banned around tobacco seedlings (as reported by Malaysian health worker who visited a tobacco farm) but not considered harmful for children or babies? I also asked if they believe that the concentration of ETS (or SHS) in cars is harmful to non-smokers, particularly the young. Predictably the answer was that Imperial considers that courtesy and consideration is the way to sort out any problems with smoking in public.
I asked for a definition of courtesy and also why should it be made obligatory around seedlings but courtesy is OK for protecting babies? This caused them to laugh and ask if they could know the name and address of the seedlings as they couldn’t answer on their behalf.
The next question was to ask how Imperial Tobacco group is responding to evidence that mentholated cigarettes are more addictive and harmful than other cigarettes? Their short answer was “We don’t believe they are.”

I asked them to clarify who owns Davidoff cigarettes. They said that Imperial owns Davidoff cigarette brand, Swiss Davidoff Cie SA owns all other Davidoff tobacco products and other goods.

Finally, on the subject of butts and litter. I set the scene that 200 million butts are dropped on the streets every day (100+ million are Imperial’s). Should they be taxed as some local authorities suggest to help pay for multi million pound clean ups? Their reply was an emphatic “Absolutely NO. Our product already has 80% tax. We now sell at cost a portable ashtray. We cannot be held responsible for anti-social behaviour.”
Goodbye Gareth
As I was leaving the meeting, Gareth Davis approached me to say goodbye. He is a sociable man and has always greeted me affably at the shareholder meetings as opposed to many who just growl and scowl. He is one of very few members of the board who actually uses Imperial’s products! As we are the same age I commented that I wished that I could retire but that marketing public health did not pay as much as marketing anti-health products. I continued with the old cliché, “I don’t know how you sleep at night”, to which he replied, “I sleep very well.” I ended the conversation with a ‘goodbye’. I left the straggle of Imperial staff and directors standing outside in the cold, smoking, got on my bike and escaped from the grey-suited business world of making mega bucks from killer butts.

March 2010 Special Offers on GASP website

2010-03-09T15:43:00.002Z

GASP have more great special offers for March 2010. Head over to their website or scroll down for more info.

What's in tobacco smoke PACK

People never cease to be shocked by the sheer number and toxicity of some of the 4000 chemicals in tobacco smoke. This pack presents some of the most popular resources demonstrating in a visual way how harmful tobacco smoke is, what is in tobacco smoke and where do those chemicals come from.

Effects of Smoking PACK

Smoking is linked to many illnesses all over the body. To emphasise and explain this GASP has a number of products that highlight the range of tobacco related diseases.

Love your lungs PACK

The lungs are in the front line of damage from smoking. The 4000 chemicals in tobacco smoke fill the delicate lungs, kill the cilia or hairs that keep the airways clean, inflame the linings and cause fatal diseases such as COPD and cancer. This special pack demonstrates the health of the lungs for both smokers and non-smokers.

Whats in Cigarette Smoke

2010-02-19T12:35:00.002Z

Tobacco education poster to match the leaflet and 3D display of the same name. Demonstrates the range of hazardous chemicals in tobacco smoke and the common products those toxins in tobacco are found in. Includes chemicals such as polonium 210, tar, carbon monoxide, benzene, arsenic, cadmium, butane and many other toxins. Still want to smoke or be a passive smoker?

Special Offers and No Smoking Day 2010 Suggestions

2010-01-26T15:36:00.004Z

To celebrate GASP’s 30th anniversary we are introducing monthly tobacco prevention special offers . Check out the website to see the latest smokefree specials. Also to promote No Smoking Day, 10 March 2010 we are featuring our recommendations for your No Smoking Day events.

This months specials are:

3 for 2 Blocked Blood Vessel

25% of Ten-a-day Tar Jar

Tips to help you quit pack

Tar Jar

2010-01-12T16:35:00.003Z

The 'Tar Jar' graphically demonstrates the amount of tar in tobacco smoke and helps to explain to smokers what causes cancer, bronchitis and emphysema. The average 15 to 20 a day smoker takes about a mug full of brown, sticky tar into the lungs every year. The sight of the Smoker's Tar Jar has been enough to motivate smokers to stop! It stimulates much discussion and interest on stalls, in stop smoking groups and smoking education lessons. A best seller and an excellent talking point.

Also available
'Ten-a-dayTar-Jar' - A smaller tar jar representing the amount of tar a 10-a-day smoker takes in over a year

For information on these products and many more, head over to the GASP website

No Smoking Day Song ideas and Lyrics

2010-01-06T12:17:00.005Z

Song ideas for No Smoking Day Events

I want to Break Free (Queen)

(I want to break free)
(And live life smoke free)
I want to break free from your lies
My health is denied, but I’ve tried and I’ve tried

I don't need you
I've want to break free
God knows, God knows I want to break free

It's strange but it's true
I can't get over the way you harm me like you do
But I have to be sure
When I walk out that door
Oh how I want to be smoke-free,
Oh how I want to break free,
Oh how I want to break free

But life must go on
I will get used to, living without, living without,
Living without cigs by my side
I don't want to die young, hey
God knows, got to make it on my own
So ciggie can't you see
God knows, gods know, gods know
I want to break free

Chains (Beatles)
Chains, my smoking’s got me locked up in chains.
And they ain't the kind that you can see.
Whoa, oh, these chains of nicotine got a hold on me, yeah.

Chains, well I can't break away from these chains.
Can't run around, 'cause I'm wheezy
Whoa, oh, these chains of nicotine won't let me be, yeah.

Take these chains (Ray Charles)
Take these chains from my heart and left smokefree
My lungs feel old and no longer breathe carefree

All my breath and energy’s gone and the wheezing lingers on
Take these chains from my heart and left smokefree.

Other Songs:
Unchained melody
Chain gang
Unchain my heart

No Smoking Day 2010

2010-01-06T11:37:00.013Z

GASP ideas for developing the 2010 No Smoking Day theme of ‘Breakfree’. Plus additional ideas for chains, chain gangs, hands, ‘We can Help’, and number ten appearing in day and year: 10/3/10.

Break Free Chains and enslavement, human chains, paper chains, chains made out of bendy curlers, garden fence chains, and plastic joke chains and ball and chains etc. Houdini, slavery, Big Cig in chains, chain gang in costume, prison bars made of ‘cigarettes’, songs about chains with No Smoking words. Chain reactions of tobacco chemicals on the body, chains of support (one advisor helps 40 smokers whose children will benefit and the families will have up to £80,000 a year to spend on food etc), paper chains with messages of support. Breath CO monitor ideas. Make a chain related Break-Free-o-meter chart. Or promote the CO monitor with ‘Change Not Chains’

Hands Hands on help, palmistry, hand massage, henna hand tattoos, handprints with stop smoking messages and tips on. Also research shown as ‘Hands up those who found it hard to break free….?’ Breath CO chart shown as a Hands-o-meter chart with hand prints in green orange and red

WE can Help ‘We can help’ with maps showing where smokers can get help to stop locally or with photos of local people and places who offer help to break free from smoking holding up posters saying ‘We can help’.

Number 10 Use the number TEN as NSD is on the 10 March 2010. Ten reasons to quit, ten tips to quit, ten day countdown, ten quitters and articles showing what has been achieved in the ten years since 2000. Ten commandments of helping smokers to quit, ten pound vouchers to reward smokers who quit


These ideas are available as a downloadable PowerPoint presentation on the No Smoking Day website. www.nosmokingday.org.uk

Tobacco Prevention articles 2: Smoking’s History

2010-01-05T11:16:00.000Z

Extract from GASP leaflet 'Tobacco is deadly in all its forms'

Pre-history	Mayans of Central America smoked, chewed and snuffed tobacco for 2000 years. Tobacco use spread over central and north America.
1492	Columbus observed native people smoking tobacco and noted it in his journal.
1519	Tobacco leaves brought to Europe.
1556	Tobacco seeds arrived in Europe.
1570	Tobacco plant named Nicotiniana after Jean Nicot, French Ambassador to Portugal who enthused about tobacco’s medicinal uses.
1585 - 6	English colonists in Virginia took tobacco back to England. Sir Walter Raleigh a pipe smoker popularised smoking for pleasure.
1604	King James (1 England /VI Scotland) wrote ‘Counterblaste to Tobacco’
1660	Snuff introduced to England from France.
1820s	Flue-curing of tobacco began.
1828	‘Nicotine’ isolated as active ingredient.
1840 - 70	New plants strains and curing methods produced milder, mellower tobacco.
1854 - 56	European soldiers take up Turkish rolled cigarettes during the Crimean War.
1881	US patented cigarette machine, produced 200 cigarettes per hour.
1914 -18	Great War spread smoking.
Post 1918	Women began smoking cigarettes.
1929	Filter cigarette introduced.
1937	Cigarette tar produced cancer in laboratory animals.
1938	US researchers noted non-smokers lived longer than smokers.
1950 - 56	UK researchers linked cigarette smoking with lung cancer.
1962	Smoking and Health report published by Royal College of Physicians.
1964	US Surgeon General’s report on smoking and health.
1965	Cigarette advertising banned on UK TV. Health warnings printed on US cigarette packs.
1970	Cigarette advertising banned on US radio and TV.
1971	Health warnings appear in UK. ASH set up.
1973	Tar and nicotine yields published. ‘Milder’ brands introduced.
1984	First No Smoking Day launched.
1986	Tobacco advertising banned in cinemas.
1988	Report on passive smoking published. World Health Organisation introduced World No Tobacco Day.
1993	Doctors’ study showed one in two smokers die from tobacco causes diseases and smokers 3 times more likely to die in middle age.
1997	Smokers reached 1 billion worldwide with China in the lead.
1998	US tobacco executives admitted nicotine is addictive.
2000 - 2004	EU directive on health warnings and tobacco regulation. EU ban on tobacco advertising phased in. Framework Convention on Tobacco Control adopted by 171 member states.
2003	New York City introduced smokefree law.
2004 - 2005	Ireland introduced smokefree law. Other countries followed including New Zealand, Norway and Italy.
2006 – 2007	Scotland introduced smokefree law followed by other UK countries the following year.
2008	Picture warnings and more regulation.
2010 - future	Annual tobacco related deaths predicted to rise from 5 to 10 million by 2020. The Framework Convention Alliance will act to reduce tobacco use worldwide.

Tobacco prevention articles 1: Whats In Tobacco Smoke?

2010-01-05T11:09:00.000Z

Whats In Tobacco Smoke?

(Extract from the leaflet Whats In Tobacco Smoke? )

There are over 4000 chemicals in tobacco smoke. The number of chemicals is not so important. What matters is how toxic they are and how much of the toxins are present. Tobacco smoke is a complex mixture of compounds produced by burning tobacco. Chemicals are present as:

•	Gases (carbon monoxide, acrolein, hydrogen cyanide, nitrogen oxide)
•	Liquid vapours (formaldehyde, methane, benzene, ammonia, acetone)
•	Tiny particles or tar (phenols, nicotine, naphthalene)
•	Metals (arsenic, cadmium, nickel, chromium, lead)
•	Radioactive compounds (polonium 210, potassium 40, lead 210)

‘Sidestream’ smoke comes from the burning end of a cigarette and ‘mainstream’ smoke from the mouth end. Chemicals are inhaled into the lungs. Many pass through the lungs, into the blood stream and are pumped around the body.

Nicotine delivery
Cigarettes are highly engineered products, designed to deliver regular doses of nicotine.
Cigarette tobacco is blended from two main leaf varieties:
1. Yellowish ‘bright’, or Virginia tobacco contains 2.5-3% nicotine
2. ‘Burley’ tobacco contains 3.5-4% nicotine

Where do the chemicals in tobacco smoke come from?

•	Tobacco plants contain nicotine, a toxin that plants use to prevent animals from eating it.
•	Tobacco leaves absorb radioactive substances such as polonium 210 from the air.
•	Agricultural chemicals (fertiliser, pesticide, insecticide, fungicide) and compounds in the soil are absorbed through the roots. These include arsenic and cadmium.
•	Processing and curing (drying) tobacco produces nitrosamines.
•	Hundreds of flavourings and additives are used to make smoking easier and better tasting.
•	Cellulose filters and cigarette paper contain chemicals. Filters stop some particles but not gases.

Cigarette paper and filter
Nicotine and tar delivery can be modified by the cigarette paper. Porous paper lets more air into the cigarette, dilutes the smoke and reduces the amount of tar and nicotine reaching the lungs. Filters are made of cellulose acetate and trap some tar from inhaled smoke. Filters cool the smoke, making it easier to inhale more deeply.

What else is in tobacco smoke?
Fillers
These consist of stems of tobacco plants, mixed with water. It varies among cigarette brands.

Agricultural chemicals
Herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, fertilisers are agricultural chemicals routinely used in tobacco growing. Tobacco is imported so it not known which agricultural chemicals are in the cigarettes.

Additives and flavourings
Over 600 additives are allowed in UK cigarettes. They are added during the manufacturing process to make tobacco products more acceptable to the user. Reasons for additives include:

•	To add flavour. Sweeteners; sugar, honey, liquorice and cocoa reduce harshness of the smoke.
•	To lessen irritation. Menthol numbs the throat.
•	To change the chemistry of nicotine. Ammonia increases the addictiveness of nicotine.
•	To change smoker’s bodies. Chemicals in liquorice and cocoa open the airways to allow more nicotine and tar into the lungs. Other additives make the brain more receptive to nicotine.
•	To keep tobacco moist to prolong shelf life.
•	To control the burn temperature.
•	To treat the cigarette paper.

Inhaled vs. ingested
Chemicals that are inhaled cause more damage than ingesting them because lungs are better than intestines at absorbing them. For example, our guts absorb about 6% of cadmium in our food, but our lungs absorb 60% of inhaled cadmium.

GASP ©
gasp@gasp.org.uk
www.gasp.org.uk

1980 – 2010 30th Anniversary of GASP

2009-10-30T15:28:00.003Z

GASP was founded in 1980 and has evolved from a pressure group campaigning for smokefree public places to the current day one-stop-shop of over 400 smoking education and tobacco control resources. GASP supplies products to you, our valued customers in the UK and worldwide and we always welcome your feedback about any products or customer service.

To mark GASP’s 30th anniversary in 2010, we are taking a celebratory theme of Smokefree Fairs and Fun events for everyone. All the ideas are brought together in an illustrated book called ‘Smokefree Fairs – Fun and Games with a Smokefree Theme’. Everything from Tobacco Free Tombola to No Smokie Karaoke, Gypsy Rose Smokefree to Smokefree Paper Planes, Ciggie Skittles to skits about ciggies. It features seasonal ideas and things to make such as a ciggie piñata and guess the number of ciggie butts in a jar.

GASP is offering lots of fun games to buy off the peg including Hook the Smokefree Ducks, Splat the Fag, Smokefree Hoopla, Stick the NO on the Smoker and Give Tobacco the Sack Race. The latter consists of 5 hessian sacks with reasons to quit printed large on them. One card game ‘Effects of Smoking Pairs’ is proving very popular. A set of 40 cards with 20 pairs each showing illustrations to represent different impacts of smoking.

For the challenge of encouraging and supporting smokers to stop, GASP has produced a book ’10 Tips for Engaging Smokers in Public Places’. It is packed with tips and true stories of stop smoking interventions where health staff and project workers have taken to the highways and byways of Britain to meet with smokers and persuade them to stop smoking. One of the tips is to ‘maximise your Smokerlyzer’. The Breath CO monitor is the essential tool on any stop smoking stall and to help with this GASP has published an updated CO leaflet and CO chart to motivate and inform smokers. A popular pregnancy leaflet called ‘Pregnant? There’s No Better Time to Stop Smoking’ has also been updated and redesigned. One new leaflet, ‘What happens to Your Body When you Stop Smoking?’ Informs recent ex-smokers through the good parts and the not so good parts of quitting to help them to know what to expect. Another new leaflet ‘Frightening Facts about Smoking’ gives over 50 scary stats for smokers and non-smokers to highlight just how frightening smoking is. It lists diseases, death rates, and eco damage both in the UK and worldwide.

For displays, a pack of 6 ‘Tobacco Toxins Hazard Signs’ printed onto light foamex board would enliven any display about the toxins in tobacco smoke. GASP has also just published ‘Poisons in Cigarette Smoke’, a new poster. For young women there are two new posters. One is an updated version of ‘Nice Face Shame about the Kiss; Kissing a Smoker is Like Licking and Ashtray’. The other ‘So She Said …’ highlights the soliloquy of a smoker who cannot believe her friend has stopped smoking and is now reaping the benefits.

The popular bookmarks provide smokers with a condensed overview of the chosen topic. Joining the nine bookmarks already on offer are 4 new ones: Stop Before Your Op, Coping with Stress without a Cigarette, Smoking Kills Your Looks and Pets and Passive Smoking.

The calm the tensions of ex-smokers, GASP is offering fantastic value head and body massagers.

Finally for the health educators and stop smoking advisors GASP is offering a new book ‘Supporting Smoking Cessation’ and 2 new powerful PowerPoints called ‘The ABCs of Smoking’ and Effects and Hazards of Smoking with graphic photos.

As always there are great offers and prices to be had from items in the Special Offers section of the website.

All GASP products including special offers can be bought and ordered online 24/7 at our website www.gasp.org.uk

Thank you for buying from GASP and for helping to promote a smokefree future. There has been great progress in combating the toll from tobacco since GASP published its first leaflet ‘Passive Smoking: the Facts’ in 1980. But we still need commitment and resolve to challenge the addictive power of nicotine and the political and economic influence of the tobacco companies in the UK and worldwide.

NEW GASP CATLALOGUE!!!

2009-10-01T16:30:00.001+01:00

Head over to the GASP website (www.gasp.org.uk) to see the new catalogue. We have loads of new and updated products.

Details to follow soon.....

Guide to using April Age Progression software

2009-09-04T11:53:00.004+01:00

First of all check that your computer meets the Minimum hardware requirements. For better results use a computer which meets the recommended requirements.

Minimum

Processor:
Pentium® IV 2.0 GHz

RAM:
1 GB RAM

Video Card:
64 MB OpenGL 1.2
Supported Video Card

Hard Drive:
2 GB free hard drive space

CD Reader:

Operating System:
Windows 2000 with
Service Pack 4,
or Windows XP

Digital Camera:
1.0 mega pixels

Internet Connection*:
Yes

Recommended

Processor:
Pentium® IV 3.0 GHz

RAM:
1 GB RAM (2 GB RAM is recommended when working in high resolution)

Video Card:
128 MB OpenGL 1.2
Supported Video Card

Hard Drive:
2 GB free hard drive space

CD Reader

Operating System:
Windows XP Service Pack 2

Digital Camera:
1.0 mega pixels or higher

Internet Connection*:
Yes

To achieve good results a good picture is necessary. Use the best quality setting on your camera, a tripod, a white background and sufficient lighting if possible.

People should not smile and should look straight at the camera, with their mouth closed, hair behind ears and away from the forehead

Transfer the photo to your PC

Open AprilAge Progression software by double clicking on the desktop shortcut. Click ‘new’, choose the folder you save the picture in and double click on it

Select ethnicity, gender, age and then click next

Position the face in your photograph (on the right) to match the 3d face (on the left) as closely as possible. To do this you can move the six tools which can be found in the top left hand corner of the window (zoom, move etc)

Save your photo

Map your photograph to the 3d face by using the match points. These are the dots on the photo, you have to move them so as to match the 3d face.

Click ‘match’ to progress to the final step. This may take a few minutes depending on computer and image size

You can now age your photo using the age slider, which is found along the bottom of the window. You can also show the effects of obesity and sun exposure by clicking on the relevant button.

Save again

If at any point you need more help the press the F1 key

Tar in a Jar Fact Sheet

2009-09-04T11:31:00.005+01:00

Tar is a term that describes a collection of solid particles that smokers inhale when they light a cigarette. It is a mixture of lots of chemicals, many of which can cause cancer. When it settles, tar forms a sticky, brown residue that can stain smokers’ teeth, fingers and lungs.

About 70% of the tar inhaled coats the lining of lungs which are made up of thousands of tiny air sacs. So a pack a day smoker’s lungs collect about a mug full of tar every year. The tar is the cocktail of over 60 cancer-causing chemicals. The constant coating of the lungs with tar causes irritation and infection and results in ‘smokers’ cough’. Over years of smoking the lungs can develop chronic lung diseases such as bronchitis and emphysema.

So what happens to all the tar taken into the lungs? A lot of the particles in the tar will stay in the lungs and become embedded in the lung tissue. Non-smoker's lungs are pink compared to blackened smoker's lungs. Lungs are like giant sponges and they can absorb a lot of tar. If you dip a clean pink sponge into thick black engine oil and then squeeze it out you could remove some of the oil but not all. The sponge will stay black and oily. Unfortunately, you cannot squeeze out the lungs! Over time some of the tar will be removed in the following ways:

1) Some of the tar will be coughed up or removed from the lungs by the little hairs or the cilia. The tar will be swallowed and passes through the digestive system. It is toxic and can lead to stomach ulcers and cancer of the stomach, intestines and bowels.

2) Some of the tar and the chemicals is absorbed from the lungs into the blood stream. The cancer-causing chemicals from the tar which are in the bloodstream then increase the risk of cancer in all parts of the body. The liver will eventually break down some of the toxins and others are excreted by the kidneys and will collect in the bladder dissolved in urine. Smokers have higher rates of kidney cancer, bladder cancer and even cancer of the penis.

The higher the concentration of tar in the body the higher the risk of cancer most exposed to the tar. Those parts with the greatest concentration of tar have highest risk - mouth, throat and lungs.

Here is a link to an interesting You Tube video showing an experiment to extract tar from 400 cigarettes. it is then heated to remove the water. It shows the thick black sticky tar. Also look at some of the other You Tube films on tar.

Because tar is listed on packs, it is easy to believe that it is the only harmful part of cigarettes. But some of the most dangerous chemicals in tobacco smoke are present as gases, and do not count as part of tar. This means that cigarettes that have less tar still contain all the other toxic chemicals.

Visit
http://www.gasp.org.uk/p-smokers-tar-in-a-jar.htm
to find out more

Say 'No' to Second Hand Smoke

2009-04-30T15:29:00.008+01:00

What it second hand smoke?

Second hand smoke is the name for the sickening, poisonous smoke given off by burning tobacco - in cigarettes, roll-ups, pipes or cigars. Breathing in other people's tobacco smoke is called 'passive smoking'. The tobacco industry claims that smokers have a right to smoke. But non-smokers have a right to breathe clean air. The right to smoke ends where a non-smoker's right to breathe safe air starts.

Second hand smoke:

Contains 4000 chemicals, 60 cancer-causing agents and 200 poisons
Takes 3 hours to clear the smoke from a single cigarette from the air
Causes wheezing, coughs, colds, earaches and asthma attacks
Makes eyes red, itchy stinging and watery
Fills the air with some of the same poisons as those found around toxic waste dumps
Makes clothes and hair stink and ruins the smell and taste of food
Kills hundreds of people from lung cancer in the UK every year
Kills hundreds of people from heart and circulation problems every year
Triples the risk of cot death and causes serious lung infections in babies and children

Tips to make your air smokefree

If someone is smoking near you
Asking someone who is smoking near you not to smoke is not easy. Let smokers know that you are not objecting to the fact that they smoke but you are asking them not to smoke near you. Be firm but polite. Putdowns don't help! How you say it is as important as what you say.

When to ask someone not to smoke
At home, talk to the smoker when it feels right. In a public place it's not so easy as you have to decide if it is OK to speak to a smoker. It may be safer to move away from the smoke if the person seems angry or upset. If you are in a no-smoking area then ask for help from someone in authority.

What to say
Take an example. You are out at a restaurant with friends. Your friend's partner takes out her cigarettes and lighter to light up next to you. What can you say?
Firstly before you say anything - relax! It will help you to get the result you want.

Tell the person that you understand their wish to smoke. You could start with, "(Name), I am sure you enjoy a cigarette after a meal, but…"
Then you tell her your side. Smokers sometimes don't realise that smoking is bad for others. So try and explain, "… I need to tell you that smoking is very bad for my chest."
Suggest a solution. Try saying "I'd be ever so grateful if you didn't smoke at the table. Perhaps you could smoke outside?"
Turn a possible refusal into a positive! End with … "Thanks ever so much. Otherwise I need to go and sit somewhere else."
Don't forget - if the smoker puts out the cigarette or goes outside, always thank the person.

In public places

Where smoking is still permitted

Always ask for a smoke-free policy even when you know they don't have one!
Politely ask any smoker near to you not to smoke. Explain why. Tell the manager if your visit has been spoiled by second hand smoke.
Leave a note or speak to the person in charge asking for smokefree air. Tell them you would visit more often if the air was smokefree.
If necessary move away from the smoke.

Ideas of what to say:

"Could I ask if you wouldn't mind not smoking as the smoke tends to make me sick (or affects my allergies, contact lenses, throat, asthma)."

Where smoking is not permitted

Ask a person with authority to enforce the smoke-free policy.
Tell the smoker you chose to be away from smoke and point to the sign.

Ideas of what to say:

"You might not realise it but this is a no-smoking area and smoke is not permitted here. You can smoke on the outside patio."

Smokefree everywhere

If you want more places to be smokefree you need to get active and get your friends organised

Always ask for smokefree places and complain if they aren't there.
Speak to managers when public places are smoky.
Offer managers no-smoking stickers or posters or tell them where they can get them.
Write letters to managers telling them the benefits of being completely smoke-free.

Ideas of what to say:

Tell them in your own words that no-smoking sections and ventilation systems don't work. They don't stop second hand smoke just as you can't contain chlorine in one section of a swimming pool. Tell them that being smoke-free would be good for business and good for health and you and your friends would use it more often.

Lobby your local councillors and your MP to bring in the laws to protect non-smokers as soon as possible. Send a personal letter, fax, e-mail or text.
A short letter about your feelings about second hand smoke to a local newspaper has real impact. It is read by thousands of readers, people in power and potential supporters.
Public opinion surveys can help if you publicise your findings.

In the home

You spend a lot of time at home so it's important to make it smokefree

Tell smokers you live with that breathing smoky air is bad for you. Use this information or look on the Internet about second hand smoke to give to the smoker. Ask the person politely not to smoke.
Support the smoker who wants to stop. Suggest help from the doctor or a smokers' helpline. But be firm about your right to smoke-free air.
Ask smokers to smoke outside. Offer to set up a smoking area somewhere pleasant outside the house with a seat and ashtray.
Put no-smoking signs inside the front door telling visitors that they cannot smoke.
Make your own 'No smoking' posters and signs to put up at the door, in the kitchen or living room.
Ask parents not to smoke to protect young children.
If grandparents or other adults smoke, ask them not to smoke in the house.
If all else fails, make your room a smoke-free zone and escape there to avoid second hand smoke.

Ideas of what to say:

"(Name), I know it's hard for you to stop smoking but I know you care about my health. Do you think you would be able to smoke outside from now on? I don't want to hurt your feelings but this is really important to me."

"(Name) when you light up, I can go out. But my little sister is breathing your smoke and it is really bad for her lungs. She can't ask you to smoke outside, but I will. If you must smoke, please don't do it around the younger ones."

Smokefree cars

Tobacco smoke levels can be extra harmful inside a car.

Ask people not to smoke in the car. Opening a window is not enough.
Suggest 'smoke stops' for smokers.
Speak up to protect children in the car.
Put a no-smoking sign in the car and ask if you can remove the lighter and ashtrays.
In other people's cars ask for smoke-free air for you
Carry a note from the doctor explaining that you need to breathe clean air

Ideas of what to say:

"Breathing in tobacco smoke in small space like a car is really bad for my health/asthma/cough. Can I please ask you not to smoke when we are in the car? You could have a smoke when we stop for breaks. Thanks."

In other people's homes

It's harder to ask other people not to smoke.

Politely ask the smoker not to smoke because smoky air makes your eyes sting, your lungs to cough or it makes your asthma worse.
Avoid smoke by going to another room or outside.
Show them a note from your doctor asking for smoke-free air.

Ideas of what to say:

"Excuse me, but cigarette smoke is really bad for my (asthma, allergies, lungs) so could you please not smoke at the moment. I'd really appreciate it. Thank you."

No smoking signs and posters for your house, car or room.

Make your own signs. Here are some suggestions for captions:

Smokefree zone
Car and home - smoke-free zone
Smokers welcome - Smoking is NOT
No Smoking, Please do not smoke
Don't even think of smoking here
Welcome to my smoke-free home
You are entering a smoke-free area
Extinguish all cigarettes
We say no to second hand smoke
No smoking - Lungs at work
Thank you for not smoking
Yes I do mind if you smoke
If you want to smoke, go outside
Second hand smoke damages my health
You smoke I choke
Don't pollute my air
I love no smoking (make this with a heart and a no smoking sign)
Respect my right to breathe smoke free air

For more information on second hand smoke have a look at the gasp website - www.gasp.org.uk

Hello and welcome

2009-04-30T14:14:00.002+01:00

This is the Smoke Free Solutions blog brought to you by GASP.

GASP provides a one-stop-shop for tobacco control resources for helping smokers to stop, encouraging young people to stay smokefree and for campaigning for smokefree enclosed spaces

check out our website - http://www.gasp.org.uk/

Thanks