Puffs of Smog - Is our society burning to ASH?

Hello, my name is Liv and welcome to my blog. First of all I would like to say how grateful I am to you for taking an interest in it. Smoking is an issue all over the world and I am hoping to do as much as I can to raise awareness of this problem. Many people lose family and/or people close to them as a result of the consequences of smoking and this is why I think it is important to help do our bit to put an end to this concern.

There are not a vast amount of charities that work to help prevent this issue compared to helping things like animals or people who are less fortunate but one of the main and most effective charities for this cause is a charity called ‘ASH’ (Action on Smoking and Health). ‘ASH’ is an organisation which provides information on all aspects of tobacco and works to advance policies and measures that will help to prevent the addiction, disease and unnecessary premature death caused by smoking.

Why should you care?

• Two thirds of smokers start before the age of 18 in the UK.
• More than 200,000 children aged 11- 15 start smoking each year.
• There are around 10 million adults who smoke cigarettes in the United Kingdom alone, which is around a sixth of the total UK population.

Many teenagers start smoking for a variety of reasons including, peer pressure, boredom, rebellion, combating weight gain and as a response to the stress of school and family life. They also believe that they will be able to quit whenever they would like but as they often find out in later life, they will be constantly battling with the addicting qualities of nicotine.

It is not only the amount of smokers that is worrying; the effects of smoking are severe too:-
About half of all regular cigarette smokers will eventually be killed by their addiction.

Every year, over 100,000 smokers in the UK die from smoking related causes.

Smoking accounts for over one-third of respiratory deaths, over one-quarter of cancer deaths, and about one-seventh of cardiovascular disease deaths.
I myself have experienced people close to me having their whole lives ruined by the effects of it and there are so many people worldwide who are suffering also. This is why I want to help and so can you. In 1974, 51% of men and 41% of women smoked cigarettes - nearly half the adult population. This proves that people are choosing the right life-style and others are assisting them in this choice. The amount of smokers is going down and I know we and charities like ‘ASH’ can help it to decrease even more.

Thank you very much for reading my blog and it would be extremely helpful to me if you could answer these questions:

1. Do you now feel more informed about the charity, issue and its effects?
2. Would you now consider telling your family/friends about the issue to try and help stop it or stop them from getting affected by it?
3. Would you do anything to help support the charity in any way for example donating money to a charity that helps this issue?