The new antismoking advert

I smoked in denial for years; the advert would have had no effect, I'm afraid. And I'm a complete hypochondriac. I somehow detached the smoking and the consequences of smoking, only worrying about them whenever I tried to give up. Worry terribly now about what harm I've done to myself.

Soop, I wasn't advocating smoking! I was just being a bit sceptical about the amount the government (any government) would be prepared to invest in a concerted anti-smoking campaign when they have so much revenue to lose. And hardened smokers won't be put off by photos and horror stories, as Granny23 has said. I agree with Mishap that the most important thing is to find a way to discourage young people from taking it up, but peer pressure is a powerful thing at that age.

It is not just the cancers - and many cancers unrelated to lungs and throat seem to be greater in smokers - but so many other illnesses that are caused/exacerbated by smoking. These include all forms of vascular disease, including heart attacks/DVTs/ vascular dementias etc. Lots of smokers become amputees due to the effect on their blood vessels.

It would be good if a way could be found to discourage people from taking it up - especially the young.

Oh dear! Ana I'm a non-smoker. Although I did smoke for an entire year, back in 1987 [a stressful period in my life.] Such images should surely deter anyone from starting or continuing the habit. I cannot help but wonder how the manufacturers of something so deadly feel when confronted with the hideous reality, as portrayed in the images of throat/mouth cancer sufferers. Images that are way beyond the stuff of nightmares...

I think that government are right to try and find ways of reducing smoking in the interests of the individuals involved and also the viability of the NHS.

The advert is an interesting idea - but I do not know how effective it might be. I believe that some research once showed that frightening adverts might make people smoke more as they tried to calm themselves down. Presumably the government have done proper research to establish that this sort of advert will help in their view. Perhaos it might prevent some people from starting.

I feel very sorry for those who wish to quit but cannot - it must be a constant negative factor eating away at their lives.

I am lucky in that I have never smoked and therefore have not had to face this addiction. The main reason that I did not take it up was because I was a bit of a sickly child/teenager and felt that my body was quite good enough at going wrong by itself without me offering it more encouragement! I am glad that I did not take it up.

My OH used to smoke when he was a student, but stopped after he met me as I used to cough and cough when he did and it was the fags or me - he chose me! - a healthier option I think/hope!

You're right nellie the rates of hospital admissions of children with respiratory infections is significantly higher if children live in a smoking household. That is one way in which the NHS would save some money immediately. But obviously if the nation gave up smoking there would be a bit of a time lag before most of the health benefits were observed ana

The costs of smoking and obsesity induced illness on the NHS is huge and could be preventable. At least with the smoking bans we are not subject to others polluting our airspace with these toxins.

Its the damage to children in smoking households that is so worrying with increased asthma, bronchitis, ear infections etc. My cousin, DH and SIL were all brought up in smoking households, all suffered these illnesses and are still prone to chest infections.
I did not grow up in a smoking household. I did smoke on and off from about 16 until I was about 25. I then had a cold which went into a chest infection and decided to stop there and then. I have hardly had a chest infection since.

Having watched my sister die of cancer in her jaw and neck (she didn't smoke) I have been on different wards and visited clinics where smokers were being treated for mouth, throat and lung cancer. I have watched smokers dragging their drip stands outside so they could have another cigarette. I have seen open cancer wounds pouring with infection, and listened to patients struggling to breathe or choking, and I have listened to relatives crying at bedsides as they watched their loved ones die. The availability of morphine to relieve the pain of cancer is no consolation. Tobacco addiction is horrible. If you don't want to stop for yourself, stop for your children.

Sorry.
www.throatcancerpictures.net

If it makes you think of smoking, try this:
http://www.throatcancerpictures.net

I have not smoked for 37 years yet I still dream about smoking in bars and restaurants. It was the cost of cigarettes rather than the health issue that decided me to stop.

As a hardened smoker with no plans to stop (I go into a complete panic if I even think about stopping) the advert will have no effect on me whatsoever. I am aware it has been on but have not SEEN it i.e. I just ignore it like any other annoying advert.

However the ban on smoking in so many places - buses, trains, aeroports, hotels - even my self-imposed ban at my own home when DGC are due or there, is forcing me to try to think seriously about quitting as I am getting increasingly fed up with having to go outside, often in the dark or pouring rain, to quell my craving, although as a stuborn soul, who does not inflict my smoke on others, I strongly object to being forced or coerced against my will. sbgran wish I knew where the 'lot of places where smokers can go and actually enjoy a cigarette in peace' were. I have nightmares where I say, break a leg, land up in hospital and am forced to go 'cold turkey' like the poor demented man in the bed next to my BIL who got no sympathy from anyone. If he had committed a murder he would have had the right to smoke in prison, but not when he had innocently broken his leg.

I hate it. The close up of the cigarette burning down and the smoke inhaling makes me want a cigarette. Considering I haven't smoked for 28 years it's very strange.

I just wonder how the government would plug the gap the sudden loss of tobacco tax would leave if the majority of smokers gave up. I doubt whether the NHS would miraculously be saved - and the loss of revenue would have to be made up somehow.

Hadn't seen it until a few minutes ago and I really am hoping it will be effective -
I have several really close friends whom I know are 'secret' smokers but who cannot openly admit it - the denial perhaps gives them an extra buzz?
That attitude always makes me curious as they are not doing anything illegal and surely hiding around a corner hastily dragging on a fag as quickly as possible in case you get disturbed must mean that you inhale much more deeply than if you relax with a cigarette? Surely they would also enjoy it more in a relaxed situation than in constant fear of being 'caught'?
As a non-smoker I suppose it is easy for me but I am honestly not against anyone who smokes especially as there are so many places where non-smokers can relax - equally there are a lot of places where smokers can go and actually enjoy a cigarette in peace.
I appreciate it is addiction but I just can't understand why anyone would willingly put all those toxins into their bodies and seriously jeopardise their health when there is so much help and support available to help them quit.
Am I alone in feeling like this?