How to Quit smoking or vaping

Are you a smoker or vaper and you’re thinking about quitting? Or do you know a smoker or vaper who would like to quit?  

When someone quits smoking or vaping, it will not only benefit their own health, but it will benefit people around them. Benefits could include people not having to breathe in dangerous, second-hand smoke and reduce concerns around what would happen should the smoker or vaper become ill. 

The Fresh Air – You’re Welcome team has put together some facts, tips and advice to help you go through your quitting journey or help someone to quit.

Impacts of quitting on your health

Quitting impacts your body as soon as you start. We’ve put together important milestones. 

Here are nine facts about how quitting could improve your health: 

1. After 20 minutes - Your resting heart rate would improve.  
2. After 12 hours - The oxygen levels in your blood would start to improve, while the carbon monoxide levels in your body would decrease. 
   
3. After five days - Nicotine would almost have left your body.
4. After one week - You would start feeling your sense of taste and smell become more accurate.
5. After two to 12 weeks - Your body has already recovered enough to lower your risks of heart attack. Your blood circulation would have improved. Your lungs would become more effective, allowing you to find exercise easier.
6. After one to nine months - You would find yourself being less out-of-breath or coughing.
7. After one year - Your risk of a heart attack would decrease by 50 per cent, compared to when you smoked.
8. After five years - Your risk of having a stroke or developing mouth, throat or oesophagus cancer would decrease.
9. After 10 years - Your risk of developing lung cancer would decrease by 50 per cent, compared to when you smoked. Your risk of bladder, kidney, and pancreatic cancer would also decrease. 

Five tips to successfully quit (or help someone to quit)

Quitting is a journey. Make sure you are well prepared to start it yourself – or support somebody who is about to quit. 

Here are five tips to successfully quit (or help someone to quit):

1. Find a support system
   It is important that you find supports to encourage and support you and keep you accountable. It can be your friends, family, Quitline via 13 7848, your GP or local pharmacies, online supports or even an app. Do not hesitate to share your journey with people around you.
2. Identify triggers
   List the situations or locations that can trigger your desire to smoke and try to avoid them, especially at the beginning of your process. Think about taking advantage of our Smoke-Free Town Centres.
3. Have coping mechanisms ready
   When the craving is too high, have a list of alternatives to reduce the craving. Alternatives include mints, gum, a stress ball, healthy snacks, etc. 
4. Be kind to yourself - or your friend
   This is a journey. If you slip up, be positive and understanding even through relapses. Quitting can take multiple attempts.
5. Celebrate small wins
   Every day without smoking or vaping is a win. Celebrate each win, such as one day without smoking or attending a social event without vaping. 

More information and support

The City of Vincent's Fresh Air - You're Welcome project aims to reduce community exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, create healthy environments, free from smoking and vaping in our entertainment precincts, and promote options available to a person looking to quit smoking or vaping.

You can find all the best tips to quit at Make Smoking History.

For more information or support, visit vincent.wa.gov.au/smokefree.

Sources

Quitting smoking - health benefits, quit plans, resources | healthdirect 

Quit Toolkit | Make Smoking History

Second-hand smoking and vaping

Did you know several of Vincent's parks and public spaces such as Braithwaite and Axford parks in Mt Hawthorn, Tu Do Park in Northbridge and Oxford Street Reserve in Leederville, are smoke and vape-free?

The City is committed to limiting community exposure to second-hand smoke or and aerosol from e-cigarettes (vapes) which is why Vincent launched the Fresh Air – You’re Welcome! Smoke-Free Town Centres project in November 2022.

The Fresh Air – You’re Welcome! team has put together some facts, tips and advice to help us all keep the community safe.

Second-hand smoking or vaping - also known as passive smoking or vaping - occurs when people near a smoker/vaper breathe in their smoke (also known as aerosol when it comes from vapes).

There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke or aerosol. It is harmful to everyone who breathes it in, from your friends and family to children and pets.

Possible harmful effects

Second-hand smoking

Second-hand smoking may increase the risks of:

1. respiratory diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, and pneumonia
2. heart attacks and coronary heart disease
3. type 2 diabetes
4. strokes and dementia caused by plaque build-up in arteries
5. lung cancer
6. eye, nasal and throat irritation, such as coughing or shortness of breath

Smoking during pregnancy is also considered second-hand smoking and can affect your child. You can read more about the second-hand smoking and pregnancy on Make Smoking History website. 

Second-hand vaping

The long-term harms of e-cigarette use - or vaping - are not yet known.

However, it has been demonstrated that e-cigarettes (vapes) produce an aerosol that can expose you and people around you to harmful substances. Until further research is conducted, it is recommended you minimize your exposure to e-cigarette's aerosol.

You can read more about the dangers of vaping via the Department of Health website or by watching Cancer Council WA's 'Clear the Air' campaign videos which aims to educate young people on the health impacts of e-cigarette use. 

Three tips to protect your community from second-hand smoking or second-hand vaping

1. Quit
   If you’re a smoker or a vaper, try to quit. The desire to protect friends, family and pets can be a great motivator to quit. You can learn more about how to quit here.
2. Teach
   Teach people - especially children - about second-hand smoke and vape and its dangers. Advise them to take some distance from smokers and vapers to avoid breathing their smoke.
   
3. Use smoke-free and vape-free space(s)
   Take advantage of our Smoke-Free Town Centres for your social gatherings and meet your friends at smoke-free venues.

More information and support

The City of Vincent's Fresh Air - You're Welcome! project aims to reduce community exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, create healthy environments, free from smoking and vaping in our entertainment precincts, and promote options available to a person looking to quit smoking or vaping.

You can find further information on Make Smoking History website.

For more information or support, visit vincent.wa.gov.au/smokefree.

Sources

How Does My Smoking Affect Others? | Make Smoking History

E-cigarettes and vaping (healthywa.wa.gov.au)

E-cigarettes (Vapes)

Did you know that the City of Vincent’s Smoke-Free Town Centres Project also includes e-cigarettes? E-cigarettes, used for vaping, are electronic devices that heat a liquid until it aerosolises. The user then inhales the aerosol into the lungs.

Contrary to common beliefs, e-cigarettes are not safe.

The City of Vincent is working to raise awareness about the risks of using e-cigarettes and vaping, especially amongst young people.

Eight facts about e-cigarettes (vapes)

1. Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine, like cigarettes.
   Nicotine is a highly addictive drug. One e-cigarette can have as much nicotine as 50 cigarettes.
2. Using e-cigarettes can have negative impact on your health.
   E-cigarettes can expose people to nicotine, chemicals and toxins that can be linked to serious lung disease, depression, and anxiety. Less direct evidence indicates adverse effects of e-cigarettes on cardiovascular health markers, including blood pressure and heart rate, lung function and adolescent brain development and function.
3. E-cigarettes are often labelled incorrectly.
   Even when they claim not to contain nicotine, they may contain high levels of nicotine.
4. Young people are targeted.
   From fruity flavours to easy to conceal packaging, e-cigarettes have been designed to appeal to young people. Research shows that in WA, 13.5 per cent of school students aged 12 to 17 have tried an e-cigarette.
5. Selling e-cigarettes is illegal in WA.
   It is illegal in WA to sell e-cigarette devices and nicotine products unless they are prescribed by a doctor and obtained with a prescription from a pharmacy.
6. People who use e-cigarettes are more likely to start smoking cigarettes.
   Amongst young people, someone who uses e-cigarettes is three times as likely to start smoking cigarettes.
7. Using e-cigarettes does not necessarily help with quitting smoking.
   There is limited evidence that e-cigarettes are an effective aid for quitting smoking. Vaping is more likely to lead to greater long-term exposure to nicotine than quitting.
8. Second-hand vaping can also have risks.
   E-cigarettes emit an aerosol into the air which can expose the person vaping and bystanders to potentially dangerous substances.

What is in an e-cigarette

The liquid in an e-cigarette is not water.

When you inhale aerosol from an e-cigarette, you can be exposed to potentially harmful substances such as:

• acetone found in nail polish remover.
• acrolein found in weed killer.
• 2-cholorophenol found in cleaning products and bug spray.

Many e-cigarettes are incorrectly labelled as nicotine free when they do in fact contain nicotine on top of other chemicals.

How to quit vaping

Quitting vaping is similar than quitting smoking. You can read more about our advice on our dedicated page.

How to quit smoking or vaping 

More information and support

The City of Vincent's Fresh Air - You're Welcome project aims to reduce community exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and e-cigarettes, creating healthy environments, free from smoking and vaping in our entertainment precincts, and promote options available to a person looking to quit smoking or vaping.

You can find helpful tips to quit at Make Smoking History.

You can learn more about the health impacts of using e-cigarettes and vaping via these digital advertisements, launched by Cancer Council WA as part of the vaping prevention campaign 'Clear the Air'.

For more information or support, visit vincent.wa.gov.au/smokefree.

Sources

The-facts-about-vaping-for-parents-and-carers-Do-you-know-what-theyre-vaping.pdf (healthywa.wa.gov.au)

E-cigarettes and vaping (healthywa.wa.gov.au)

E-cigarettes health outcomes review summary brief (anu.edu.au)