Smoke free for one year

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1 July marks 12 months since the UK went smoke free, with all enclosed public areas of the country becoming no smoking zones. 97% of workplaces and public spaces are now smoke free in the Rochdale Borough.

A spokeswoman for the Heywood, Middleton & Rochdale Primary Care Trust (HMRPCT) said: "A smoke free England ensures a healthier environment, so everyone can socialise, relax, travel, shop and work free from secondhand smoke. The smoke free law helps to improve health in many ways. There is no risk-free level of exposure to second hand smoke. Second hand smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals in the form of particles and gases - some of these chemicals are dangerous poisons. Second hand smoke is bad for health - it is known to cause cancer as well as many other serious health problems. Just thirty minutes exposure is enough to reduce coronary blood flow.

51 year-old Derek Bullen had smoked for 36 years but decided it was time to quit when the smokefree legislation came in, he said: “I was smoking between 30 and 40 cigarettes a day. I wanted to quit and had tried a number of times but had never managed more than a week or two.”

Mr Bullen, an environmental health worker at Rochdale Borough Council, received support from the stop smoking service to help him kick the habit. He used a three month course of Champix, which reduces a smoker’s craving for nicotine and decreases the satisfaction a smoker experiences when smoking a cigarette.

“Champix really helped me to get over craving a cigarette but I did have to use a lot of willpower too- it doesn’t work miracles! I’ve been quit for five months now and feel a lot more healthier. I’ve even started going to the gym and am taking my lifestyle more seriously.”

Lisa Barker, tobacco free project lead for HMRPCT and Rochdale Council, commented: “Since the smoking ban came into force, around 37 per cent of workers in the Rochdale Borough have experienced a number of health and lifestyle benefits. People have reported that they can breather more easily, it’s helped them to quit smoking, their clothes don’t smell of smoke, its improved working enviroment and they are less aware of asthma. This shows that the ban has made a big difference to people living and working in the Borough.”

In the last year, TASK (Think Act Stop Kick), the Borough’s stop smoking service, has helped 2109 people to stop smoking.