National No Smoking Day - give it up!!!

National No Smoking Day is the day of the year that all smokers are encouraged to give up their habit. This year, the challenge is to give up for a week and see how it goes after that. Millions of smokers in the UK are planning to give it a go, and if you smoke, you should be among them.

Because for young people there are a whole bunch of really good, important reasons why you shouldn't smoke, and if you do, you should give it up.

Buying cigarettes is a bother

It's been illegal for under 18s to buy tobacco products since late last year, and shops now have to ask for ID when young people want to buy cigarettes, or face a £2,500 fine. This has made buying cigarettes one of those situations where you get carded. Annoying!

Young smokers won't live as long as their non-smoking mates

This is the health bit, and you probably know it already. Here's the facts:

• A lifelong smoker has a one in two chance of their addiction killing them.
• The younger a smoker starts the more likely they are to be killed by their addiction.
• The earlier children become regular smokers and continue to smoke as adults, the greater the risk of developing lung cancer or heart disease.
• Someone who starts smoking at 15 is three times as likely to die from cancer due to smoking than someone who starts in their mid-20s.

In the UK about 8 in 10 non-smokers live past the age of 70. Among those who smoke, only about half make it past 70. Dangerous!

You miss all the good bits at the gigs

Smoke breaks might seem like a nice idea at work, but when you're in the middle of a conversation, a long car journey, or a gig, they can be absolutely infuriating. If cravings are killing your evenings, get yourself some nicotine replacement therapy, and while you're at it, use them to help cut down or cut out the smoking.

This is especially important if you're hanging out with mates who are asthmatic, younger kids, or babies. Recently a big children's hospital announced that between a quarter and a third of children with conditions like chest infections and asthma were suffering the results of passive smoking. Inconsiderate!

Smoking harms your developing brain

This one's just beginning to emerge from some new studies, but it ties in with what we know about how smoking effects teenagers. Recent studies have shown regular smoking directly damaging the brain in ways that interfere with learning, harm concentration and prime the mind for tobacco addiction. The worst effects were seen in people who'd been exposed to smoke as babies, and had gone on to become teenage smokers themselves. Stupid!

You need the money for an ipod holiday car deposit on a flat

Add up they money you're spending and your habit starts to look scary. At a fiver a pack,it adds up fast, and the money you spend or save can make all the difference when you're trying to get money together to help fund your first college course, room in a shared house or car. Expensive!

Time to stop? You can get loads of help

• Smoking Helpline from the NHS
• Email and text support from National No Smoking Day
• Give up Smoking Guide on Spired