May 27, 2016
Challenge for smoking sanity
Maori anti-smoking advocates are challenging complacency about smoking by people using mental health and addictions services.
The National Maori Tobacco Control Leadership Service says the prevailing attitude is such people are already under enough stress and smoking is a great relief.
In fact people with mental illness or addictions do want to quit and can do so with the right support.
It has organised a challenge, WERO, where teams work together to quit smoking.
Lead coordinator Breviss Wolfgramm says it’s the first mental health and addictions mass quitting programme in New Zealand, and possibly the world.
He says over the past three months 31 teams consisting of 168 individuals have taken part in WERO.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony at Auckland Town Hall next Tuesday, World Smoke Free Day.
Yesterday’s Budget included a 10 percent rise in the tax on tobacco each year for the next four years, which will take the price of a packet of cigarettes from $20 to $30 by 2020.
Copyright © 2016, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com