Sanders County hosts Great American Smokeout

HOT SPRINGS – The Montana Tobacco Use Prevention Program (MTUPP), a statewide program of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, is joining forces with the American Cancer Society for this year’s Great American Smokeout. This annual event challenges smokers to quit cigarettes for at least one day, in hopes they will quit for good. It is held around the country and helps raise awareness about tobacco use and encourages tobacco users to quit, providing them with helpful cessation information and resources.

Sanders County Tobacco Use Prevention Program will host the Great American Smokeout on Thursday November 15, 2012 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the Hot Springs Health and Rehabilitation Center. The event will include celebratory cake, cessation and tobacco use education.

The Great American Smokeout raises awareness about the deaths and chronic diseases caused by smoking.

One thousand four hundred (1,400) Montanans die every year from tobacco-related illnesses. Tobacco Prevention Specialist Jan Parmelee said, "We’re challenging smokers to stop tobacco use for the day and will provide information on the effective ways to quit permanently, including information on the Montana Tobacco Quit Line".

Tobacco users who call the Montana Tobacco Quit Line are 7 to 10 times more likely to quit. The Montana Tobacco Quit Line at 1-800-QUIT-NOW offers free help to Montanans who want to quit using tobacco. The Quit Line offers free nicotine replacement therapy, such as patches, lozenges and gum, and free or low-cost medications.

Currently while supplies last, the Quit Line is offering combination Nicotine Replacement Therapy for callers who are ready to work on quitting tobacco and may need the extra help combating cravings during the initial quitting period. Two weeks of short acting nicotine products, the nicotine gum and lozenge, are now available to augment the use of nicotine patch or the prescription

medication bupropion to provide extra help in overcoming cravings and withdrawl symptons.

This free cessation service has provided 937 Sanders County residents who have enrolled in the Quit Line from May 2007 through September 2012 the opportunity to free themselves of tobacco use.

Call the Montana Quit Line at 1-800-QUIT-NOW.