Get help to stop smoking

Stopping smoking is the single best thing you can do to improve your health. It will also improve the health of those around you. Stopping smoking will increase your chance of living longer. Being smoke free means that you'll enjoy the benefits of living a healthier life.  Smoking can kill and if it doesn’t kill you, it can leave you with life changing illnesses.

There are now plenty of ways to get help to quit smoking. You can therefore choose a method that suits your lifestyle and needs.

A local free stop smoking service is available to all smokers who live or work in Barnsley. This is at a variety of locations across the borough. The service provides a range of free nicotine replacement therapy and expert behaviour support. It can be either face to face, over the phone or online. 

You can find more details at NHS Yorkshire smoke free. 

E-cigarettes

Some people have found that e-cigarettes help them to quit smoking.

E-cigarettes are battery powered devices that deliver nicotine through inhaled vapour. Most e-cigarettes contain a heating element, a cartridge containing nicotine, glycerine and water. They do not contain tobacco and aren't burnt.

E-cigarettes are less harmful than smoking tobacco. The smoke produced from burning tobacco in cigarettes contains about 4000 chemicals, 70 of these are know to cause cancer. Since e-cigarettes do not contain tobacco and aren't burnt they are considered to be at least 95% less harmful than cigarettes.

For more details about e-cigarettes and to clear up some commonly held myths about them, head over to public health matters. 

Smoking in pregnancy

Quitting smoking in pregnancy is the best thing you can do to ensure your baby is in the very best of health. Also giving them the best possible chance of a healthy start in life.

There are many benefits for both you and your baby when you stop smoking. To read more about these benefits, head over to the NHS website. 

Barnsley maternity stop smoking service

Support and treatment is available for pregnant women and their families to stop smoking. You can find out more information about the Barnsley maternity stop smoking service.

Their team offers free, confidential support and advice. They also offer free nicotine replacement therapy. This is to help pregnant women and their families who wish to quit smoking.

Pregnant women could also receive up to £260 in Barnsley Gift Card’s as incentives to quit. Starting from the day they set a quit date, incentives will be given out for being smoke-free. These will be given during regular check-ins throughout their pregnancy and the six-to-eight week post-natal check.

Illegal Tobacco

Illegal tobacco products include cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco that have been smuggled, bootlegged or are counterfeit.

Illegal tobacco can consist of the following:

• Illicit whites – brands which have no legal market in the UK, often from eastern Europe.
• Non-UK duty paid – genuine UK brands brought into the country and sold without duty being paid
• Counterfeit – illegally made and made to look like popular brands

Illegal tobacco has a wide range of impacts:

• Health - children and young smokers are often targeted by people who sell illegal cigarettes. It makes it even easier for them to get hooked on smoking. The people making money out of this do not care who they sell to. Cheaper illegal cigarettes being available also makes it harder for people to quit and remain smoke free.
• Safety - young and vulnerable people are often the ones to visit private addresses to buy cigarettes. It can put them in a risky situation with people who might also be selling alcohol, drugs and stolen goods.
• Crime - the illegal tobacco trade has strong links with organised crime and criminal gangs.  Many of the people who smuggle, deliver and sell it are involved in other activities. This may be drug dealing, money laundering, people trafficking and even terrorism. Selling illegal tobacco is a crime.
• Schools and hospitals - people who buy illegal tobacco steal from the taxpayer. This is money that could be spent on important public services like schools and hospitals.

Look out for the tell tale signs of illegal tobacco include:

• Packets with no health warning pictures
• Packets with foreign language health warnings
• Stock kept out of sight in retail shops and away from the regular tobacco display cabinet
• Much cheaper than normal cigarettes, for example £3.50 - £7.00 per pack of 20
• Unusual or foreign brand names, such as Jin Ling – or those from Russia and the Far East
• Being sold in unusual locations. Places such as pubs, market stalls, ice cream or fast food vans and private homes (tab houses)

We can all make a real difference to help keep illegal tobacco off the streets by reporting it.  If you spot anything suspicious you can report it by contacting our tobacco control officer on 01226 773536.  You don't have to give your name and details.

You can find out more details about illegal tobacco and what can be done about it.

The QUIT programme

To help protect people’s health, Barnsley Hospital is smokefree, meaning that staff, patients and visitors cannot smoke anywhere on site. To prevent patients getting unpleasant withdrawal symptoms, the hospital provides free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). Friendly support from specialist tobacco treatment advisors to everyone admitted to hospital who smokes. The advisors can also arrange ongoing support with community stop smoking services. This is helpful if patients choose to continue to stop smoking after discharge.

Staff can access the 12 week QUIT programme via the QUIT team at the hospital. The service and NRT is free and staff are given protected time to attend appointments. Support can be face to face, by telephone or email. If you work at the hospital, please read the policy around this.

Other useful links

ASH

NHS Smokefree