1980 – 2010 30th Anniversary of GASP

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!!!

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

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

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

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."

or

"(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

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