Record as 1,300 quit smoking

Record numbers of smokers in Dudley have stubbed out cigarettes for good since the ban came into effect. More than 1,300 people have stopped smoking in the borough since the new Smokefree laws were introduced on July 1.

The figure is a 48.1 per cent increase on the previous year's figures and is much higher than the national figure of 28 per cent. The statistics have been welcomed by officials from the Dudley Stop Smoking Service which introduced a raft of measures to help people cope with the new laws.

Prior to the laws coming into force, the service incre-ased the number of pharmacies in the borough offering the service, introduced an out-patients service at Russells Hall Hospital, Dudley.

There has been an increase in the range of treatments to give people more choice, increased training to health professionals to raise awareness of the service and more advisers employed to get the message across.

Director of Public Health in Dudley, Valerie Little, said: "Stopping smoking is a major achievement and it's great that so many smokers have quit through the Dudley Stop Smoking Service preventing serious health problems and complications.

"Stopping smoking is one of the most important things people can do to improve their health and it has been proven that people who use local stop smoking services do much better than those who try on their own.

"Tobacco smoke contains around 4,000 chemicals, including more than 50 known cancer-causing substances, and is responsible for many serious and fatal diseases including lung cancer, coronary heart disease, bronchitis and emphysema.

"The minute someone stops smoking, however, their body starts to recover and within 10-15 years of giving up an ex-smoker's risk of developing lung cancer is only slightly greater than that of someone who has never smoked."

For more information about the Dudley Stop Smoking Service call 0800 0850652.