Orange City, Iowa — This Thursday, November 18th, is the Great American Smokeout, the day the American Cancer Society uses to encourage smokers to use to make a plan to quit, or to plan in advance and quit smoking that day.
By quitting — even for one day — the American Cancer Society says smokers will be taking an important step towards a healthier life – one that can lead to reducing cancer risk. The Great American Smokeout is held on the third Thursday of November each year.
We talked with Communicable Disease and Tobacco Use Prevention Coordinator Teri Bos with Sioux County Community Health Partners. She tells us the reasons that smokers should consider quitting, starting with the most obvious one.
Bos says quitting can also help money stay in your pocket.
Cigarettes in Iowa cost an average of $6.29 per pack these days, and believe it or not, that’s fairly reasonable. New Yorkers pay almost double that for a pack of 20.
If you’ve decided that quitting is the best plan for you and your family, Bos tells us it’s usually best to incorporate a variety of tactics into your quitting plan.
She says there’s even help for people who want to quit vaping.
And, she says, there’s a new effort aimed at helping teens quit.
Sometimes nicotine replacement therapy is available free of charge, either through your insurance plan, or, if you don’t have insurance, it’s available free through QuitLine Iowa. She advises people just to start by calling QuitLine Iowa at 1-800-QUIT-NOW, and they can help you find out how you can get free or low-cost nicotine replacement products.
She also advises people to make an appointment with their regular medical provider, as they are willing and eager to help too.
Those resources once again are QuitLine Iowa at www.quitlineiowa.org or 1-800-QUIT-NOW; and the program to help kids quit vaping, called My Life My Quit at mylifemyquit.com
