You Can Quit Smoking
My mother has COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) from years of smoking. She grew up in the thirties and forties when smoking was more than acceptable and the tobacco companies were keeping the dangers of inhaling toxins to themselves. On a good day she only has to take three breathing treatments with a nebulizer; on a bad day she takes five.
Atlantic County smokers looking to quit for good this year are in the company of 875,000 other NJ residents and President Obama. In New Jersey, approximately 1.15 million residents – or 17 percent of adults – smoke. Of that number, nearly 76 percent want to quit, yet without seeking help only a little better than 10 percent succeed. Many of them will try to quit alone, ultimately relapsing without the support of medical professionals and other quitters. To help improve the odds of success, the NJ Department of Health and Senior Services offers a variety of free and low-cost programs, which work to reduce tobacco use among residents.
One service, NJ Quitcenters, offers a customized, face-to-face approach to quitting on a sliding fee scale. It combines intensive individual or group counseling, with the supervised use of nicotine patches, gum and inhalers. The local NJ Quitcenter is located at Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point, providing services to Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Ocean Counties (Call 653-3440). Clients can purchase over the counter nicotine replacement therapy products at a reduced cost.
In addition to the Quitcenters, the state offers NJ Quitline – a free, telephone-based counseling service – and NJ QuitNet – a free, online service with information, counseling, chat rooms and online peer support and encouragement. If you don’t have on-line access call NJ Quitline at 1-866-NJ-STOPS.
