Smokers are to be given free nicotine patches on the NHS. They will be handed out by surgeries and pharmacies as part of a £250 million Government drive to help people kick the habit. The patches give smokers a gradual release of nicotine through the skin enabling them to get their ‘fix’ without the cancer-causing substances such as tar and carbon monoxide found in cigarettes. As people become less addicted, they gradually use less ... Jump to full article >>

THE cost of nicotine patches will be slashed for low-income earners as the Federal Government ramps up its efforts to get more Australians to kick their smoking habit. A new life-saving drug will also be subsidised for the 73 Australians with a rare blood disorder after The Courier-Mail revealed their fight for funding. It can be revealed today the cost of the vital drug will come down from about $500,000 a year to just $33.60 per script in a m ... Jump to full article >>

Leonardo DiCaprio is trying to give up smoking — but is having to do it without the help of nicotine patches! The Titanic actor — who stars in new movie Shutter Island — says his mission to ditch his beloved cigarettes is being hindered by dreams of mass murder! “When I take nicotine patches I have blood curdling nightmares of murder. Mass murders,” explains Leo. “I wake up in the middle of the night and have to take them off. “I ... Jump to full article >>

Of the 250 toxic chemicals found in secondhand (or “passive”) smoke, at least 50 are known to cause cancer. The Surgeon General says there’s no safe level of secondhand smoke and, according to the California Environmental Protection Agency, secondhand smoke causes an estimated 3,400 lung cancer deaths and 46,000 heart disease deaths among nonsmokers in the U.S. each year. Fortunately, most states now have strict laws about smok ... Jump to full article >>

Writing this on the day of the Great American Smokeout, we want no confusion about our support for the Montana Clean Indoor Air Act. Along with willpower, help lines, support groups and nicotine patches, the statewide ban on smoking in enclosed public places is a key component in the box of tools designed to make tobacco use less common. It’s a worthy goal — the risks and costs to smokers, people around them and the health care system ar ... Jump to full article >>