Besides being terrible for your health, did you know smoking is the No. 1 cause of preventable home fire deaths? Good thing National Non-Smoking Week takes place from January 18 - 24!
National Non-Smoking Week was started about 30 years ago in Canada by the Canadian Council for Tobacco Control. The goals of National Non-Smoking Week are:
- To educate people about the dangers of smoking.
- To prevent non-smokers from picking up the habit.
- To help people quit smoking.
- To promote the right of every individual to breath clean, unpolluted air.
- To help make our society smoke-free.
Why is smoking so bad?
Tobacco use is the main cause of preventable disease, disability and premature death in North America. If you’re exposed to second-hand smoke (smoke from a smoker’s cigarettes), you may also have risks to your health, including a greater chance of getting bronchitis, pneumonia, ear infections and asthma.
How to help someone quit smoking
If someone you know needs to quit smoking, there are things you can do to help them:
- Tell them how much you love them and how proud of them you’ll be if they stop smoking.
- Tell them about some of the ingredients in a cigarette – acetone (found in nail polish remover), ammonia (found in cleaning products), rat poison – and ask them if they would drink those poisonous things on their own.
- Whenever they are smoking, ask them to stop and, if they won’t, move to another room or go outside.
Have Your Say
Does your school promote non-smoking? What do you think of Non-Smoking Week? Let us know!
