Want to quit smoking?

The organisation’s eKick Butt programme is a free, online smoking cessation programme through which the smoker is guided and mentored as they quit smoking. It is said it makes non-smoking a lifelong habit. With World No Tobacco Day having just passed on May 31, Mr Manny de Freitas, a Kensington resident and member of the board of governors for Cansa, said young people continue to be the most vulnerable in starting the use of tobacco products. “With information and education, we can counter the clever marketing from tobacco companies which makes our youth nicotine addicts. It has become a norm for tobacco companies to advertise some of their products as light, filtered, low tar, menthol and even fruit flavoured, thus implying these products are not as dangerous as they would ordinarily be. This is not the case,” he said. He said according to the World Health Organisation (Who) most smokers start smoking before the age of 18 and almost a quarter start using tobacco before the age of 10. “Today tobacco comes disguised in different ways such as in the form of water pipes, hubbly bubblies or hookah-smoking. This is prevalent particularly among young people,” he said. He urged everyone to take a stand and protect each other, particularly the youth, from the harmful effects of tobacco. Call 0800 22 66 22, e-mail info@cansa.org.za, join Cansa’s Facebook or follow on Twitter. Visit https://www.ekickbutt.org.za/ for further information on the eKick Butt programme. @JoziReporter