Quitting smoking is hard, but there are resources to help and a lot of benefits
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Toll of Tobacco
Kentucky is No. 2 in smoking and No. 1 in lung cancer. Why is so much of the state still addicted to cigarettes, and what needs to change?
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It can be hard to quit smoking or using other tobacco products, but there are ways to get help and obvious benefits to accomplishing it.
One program is called Quit Now Kentucky, which offers help by phone or online to help people stop smoking. It is staffed by trained coaches and customized to each person.
Access to the quitline and coaching is free. Participants may be eligible for two free weeks of medication such as nicotine gum or patches, but there may be a cost after that.
The quitline is available at 1-800-QUIT-NOW or online at https://www.quitnowkentucky.org.
The American Lung Association offers stop-smoking clinics led by expert facilitators. The association said that people who use a Freedom From Smoking clinic are six times more likely to be smokefree a year later than people who try to quit on their own.
More information is available at 1-800-LUNGUSA, or find a clinic in your area is at https://www.lung.org/quit-smoking/join-freedom-from-smoking/freedom-from-smoking-clinics.
Local health departments in Kentucky and the Kentucky Department for Public Health have resources to help people quit smoking. Listings of local health departments are available at https://chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dph/dafm/LHDInfo/AlphaLHDListing.pdf, and the link for the Kentucky Department for Public Health is available is https://chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dph/dpqi/cdpb/Pages/tobcessation.aspx.
State law requires Medicaid and private insurance companies to cover the cost of all seven medications approved by the federal government to help people stop smoking, such as nicotine gum and patches.
The National Cancer Institute has information available on quitting smoking at https://smokefree.gov/. The site has specialized information available for women, teenagers, veterans and other groups.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Cancer Society also have tips and resources for quitting smoking. The information is available at https://www.cancer.org/healthy/stay-away-from-tobacco/guide-quitting-smoking.html and https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/quit-smoking/.
To quit vaping or using electronic tobacco products, text the free mobile program, DITCHJUUL to 88709.
Research shows the benefits of stopping smoking are obvious, according to health groups. For instance:
▪ Within 20 minutes of quitting, your blood pressure goes down
▪ Within 24 hours, the risk of a heart attack subsides.
▪ At one year smokefree, the risk of coronary artery disease drops to half of the risk faced by a smoker.
▪ And 10 years out, the risk of cancer drops to half that of a smoker.
Quitting also reduces the risks to family members and others from breathing secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke is a cause of heart disease, lung cancer, sudden infant death syndrome and other health conditions.
This story was originally published February 20, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
