Press Releases
This holiday season, give the gift of health. Help a smoker quit.
Stopping smoking is the single most important step that a smoker can take to enhance the length and quality of their life. Quitting is not easy, but the best chance of quitting successfully happens with the support of family and friends and resources that help smokers find the support and tools they need to quit in their own way, and on their own terms. This holiday season, give the gift of health. Help a smoker quit.
Evangelin Beedilla, MD,MPH, the cessation program monitor for the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Tobacco Control Program emphasizes that Quitting smoking is a gift that delivers immediate health benefits by lowering the risk of lung and other cancers, heart attack, stroke, and chronic lung disease,. Making the decision to quit using tobacco is a critical first step toward conquering a nicotine addiction, but no one has to go it alone. A support network of family and friends coupled with a little guidance and ongoing encouragement, all contribute to a tobacco users success with quitting.
In Louisiana, tobacco users have a comprehensive online cessation source—www.QuitWithUsLA.org that provides easy access to proven cessation tools and programs in a single location that can help them quit successfully.
Some tobacco users choose to simply quit cold turkey, others prefer working with an individual quit coach by phone, and then there are some who thrive within the dynamics of group counseling. With just a few clicks, Louisiana tobacco users can find many free cessation programs, tools and resources to meet their individual quit needs, adds John Butts, New Orleans regional coordinator for The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living.
The Quit With Us, Louisiana Web site empowers tobacco users with important information and tips for quitting, and offers links to online resources and free statewide cessation programs—all accessible from a single location, including:
The Louisiana Tobacco Quitline, 1-800-QUIT-NOW – free and confidential advice and support by telephone for Louisiana residents, ages 13 and older, who are interested in or ready to quit smoking. Certified quit counseling is available in English, Spanish and other languages, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Group Cessation Counseling group cessation counseling classes offered through the American Lung Associations Freedom from Smoking Clinics and the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center.
The Tobacco Control Initiative (TCI) – tobacco cessation resources and services within public hospitals throughout Louisiana. Cessation resources and services provided by TCI combine behavioral counseling, social support, and pharmacotherapy to assist patients in their efforts to discontinue tobacco use.
The Quit With Us, Louisiana website is a great starting point for smokers who are contemplating quitting or those who are firm in their decision to conquer their addiction in the New Year, says Beedilla. Tobacco users appreciate the anonymity, accessibility and ease of going online to seek information and help from a single source. Theres no better time than the present to quit.
To learn more about Louisianas comprehensive cessation resources, visit www.QuitWithUsLA.org.
