New Year’s resolution to quit smoking? BC government lends a helping hand

With many people resolving to quit smoking for the New Year, South Carolina is offering free help to residents who want to kick the habit. “One idea Stop Smoking Wales helped me to come up with is reading – if I feel the urge to smoke while I’m at home then instead I’ll go upstairs and read for half an hour. These changes are smart improvements to an already effective program”, said Scott McDonald, CEO of the B.C. Lung Association. Providing free patches and other nicotine replacement therapy is one of the key approaches taken by the program.

The cost for the eight-week class is $25, and those who complete the full eight weeks will be refunded their fee.

Since it began in 2011, the Province has invested more than $38 million into the program.

Use a statewide toll-free quit line and talk with a trained Quit Coach: 1-800-QUITNOW and 1-855-DEJELOYA offer telephone-based tobacco cessation services in English and Spanish. “Providing medically appropriate nicotine replacement products opens up access for all enrolled participants to get a starter kit of nicotine patches, gum, or lozenges”.

The local public health officials are positive that this new law will make it more hard for young teenagers to buy cigarettes and they are hoping to reduce the number of young people from developing unhealthy addiction. “The important thing is to keep trying to quit, until you quit for good”. “You’re also protecting the health of your family, as second-hand smoke causes numerous health problems, especially in infants and children”, added Lake. The goal is to help more smokers quit for good.

In some ways smokers save taxpayers money because they tend to die younger and so do not get to claim many years of superannuation.

One out of three cancer deaths in the USA could be prevented if every smoker quit smoking.

The act is an effort to reverse this trend by making e-cigarettes less accessible and less attractive, said Lola Irvin, Administrator for the Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Division, according to a report from the 12NewsNow. “To reach New Zealand’s smoke-free goal of 2025 we need taxes to continue and we need the standardised packaging to pass as well”.