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** 08 January 2021
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** UK
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** BBC criticised for promoting chain-smoking to viewers in new drama (#1)
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** New TV advert encourages smokers in Sheffield to give quitting another go (#2)
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** Wales: Campaigners call for a ban on plastic cigarette filters (#3)
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** Links of the Week
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** Stepping up: The response of stop smoking services in England to the COVID-19 pandemic (#4)
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** Eight ways to quit smoking in 2021 (#5)
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** UK
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The murder drama, The Serpent, is under fire from tobacco control campaigners for promoting smoking to viewers of the show. The three main characters are regularly seen chain-smoking in the eight-part series.
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of ASH, said: “There’s a proven causal link between watching people smoke on screen and taking up smoking yourself. Whether the smokers are heroes or villains, cool or not, doesn’t make any difference. Exposure to images of people smoking makes it harder for smokers to quit, and more likely that ex-smokers will start smoking again. Watching The Serpent won’t turn someone into a serial killer – but it will encourage them to smoke.”
Viewers of the tv drama have also criticised the amount of smoking in the show. One viewer said: “For anyone watching The Serpent and trying to give up smoking – good luck!”
A second said: “I’m gasping for air watching them chain smoke.”
Source: Mirror, 7 January 2021
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Read Article ([link removed] )
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** “Don’t give up on quitting” is the message to smokers in a new advert by Smokefree Sheffield. Filmed on location across Sheffield, the advert features three smokers’ stories currently on their next attempt to quit. Released on the 6th January, the advert will be shown on ITV On Demand and across social media throughout the month to encourage smokers to make a new year quit attempt.
The new advert aims to encourage smokers to learn from their past quit attempts and keep trying because they are a step closer to success each time they do. As part of the new campaign, smokers are being urged to seek support from Smokefree Sheffield and its partners, which include a range of stop smoking services across the city.
Councillor Mary Lea, Cabinet Member for Culture, Parks and Leisure at Sheffield City Council, said: “We know that quitting smoking can be a difficult process and that it can take several attempts to succeed. But we don’t want this to be the reason people stop trying. We want to reassure smokers with this new advert that with time and the right support they can quit successfully. As a time to reflect and reset, the new year is a great time to make your next quit attempt. This may be the attempt that works for you. It may not. But one day you will get there and with the right support that day may be sooner than you think.”
Source: Yorkshire Times, 4 January 2021
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Read Article ([link removed] )
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** ASH Wales, the Marine Conservation Society and Keep Wales Tidy want the sale of plastic-filled cigarette butts to be banned alongside items such as plastic straws and plastic cotton bud stems.
The Welsh Government launched its reducing single-use Plastic consultation in July 2020, with proposals to create a law banning the sale of single-use plastic items. However, cigarette butts were not included in the list of things that would be prohibited. In a study carried out by Keep Wales Tidy in 2018, cigarette butts were found on 80.3% of streets in Wales, making them the most common form of litter and pose a substantial environmental risk.
Suzanne Cass, CEO of ASH Wales, said: “Cigarette butts are a big part of the plastic pollution problem and should be treated as single-use plastic items in exactly the same way as straws, balloon sticks or takeaway coffee cups. We have urged [the] Welsh Government to include plastic cigarette filters in the list of items subject to regulatory action in Wales. In doing so, Welsh Government would not only remove a highly destructive piece of plastic litter from the environment, but it would change perceptions of cigarette litters and perhaps even encourage smokers to think about the impact their habit is having on the environment.”
Source: Wales 247, 4 January 2021
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Read Article ([link removed])
** Links of the Week
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** ASH and Cancer Research UK have published a report looking at local tobacco control and smoking cessation services in England, providing a vital snapshot of how local authorities across England are working towards the national ambition to be smokefree by 2030 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Key findings from the report reveal:
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** The proportion of local authorities commissioning a specialist stop smoking service has risen year-on-year from 65% in 2018 and 69% in 2019 to 77% in 2020.
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** The COVID-19 pandemic forced local authorities to reconfigure their stop smoking services at an unprecedented speed. They adapted quickly, and many found that smokers welcomed remote methods of engagement, such as telephone consultations.
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** Councils also undertook an unprecedented programme of communications activity to encourage smokers to quit, with 4 in 5 local authorities delivering comms specifically about smoking and the pandemic, assisted by the #QuitforCovid campaign and resources.
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View Report ([link removed] )
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** On Friday 15th January, 12:45 pm - 1:15 pm Dr Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, managing editor of Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group and senior research fellow of the University of Oxford, will be discussing the science behind the most common and most successful ways of quitting smoking for good.
Viewers can ask any questions they would like to via the chatbox on YouTube or the comment sections of Facebook or Twitter. Viewers can also send in any questions in advance.
Source:Oxford at Home ([link removed] )
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Watch the Talk ([link removed] )
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.
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