Quitting Smoking

The chemicals released when you smoke a cigarette can make you short of breath and cause other problems, for example various cancers and heart and circulation problems.

Breathing in your smoke can cause health problems for other people too. If you’re pregnant it can be harmful to your baby both before and after birth. It is illegal to sell tobacco to children and young people under 18.

If you are caught with cigarettes when you’re under 18, they can be taken from you by police and community support officers. You may be lucky and able to control how much you smoke but many people become addicted to the nicotine in tobacco and need more and more. It’s one of the hardest habits to kick. You can become irritable or even depressed. It may take several attempts before you finally stop.

Quitting cigarettes, shisha and e-cigarettes completely and being addiction-free is the best way to protect your health. We know that this isn’t easy but help is available. With support from a local stop smoking service you are four times more likely to quit than going it alone. They can help with one to one support and access to licensed stop smoking medicines that can be used to help to beat the cravings. These are available to young people aged 12 years and above and are free to under 16’s and those on benefits.

NHS Smokefree - Free, proven support to help you quit!
www.nhs.uk/smokefree

For help to quit smoking, shisha and e-cigarettes contact your local service on
0800 328 6297

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