Great American Smokeout set for Nov. 17

Resources available to help people quit smoking The American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout was held Thursday, November 17. The event, held annually on the third Thursday in November, provides an opportunity for individuals, community groups, businesses, health care providers, and others to encourage people to use the date to make a plan to quit, or plan in advance to initiate a smoking cessation plan.

”If people who smoke are ready to quit, there are a lot of places they can go for help,” said Laura Fischer of the Nicotine Prevention Alliance of Central Wisconsin. ”We’re all different, so it’s important that people are aware of the variety of resources available to help them quit nicotine and commercial tobacco products.”

Resources available in Wisconsin include:

• The Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line: Provides free help and medications to those who call the line at 1-800-QUIT-NOW (784-8669). Individuals can also access the Quit Line by texting “READY” to 200-400.

• The Spanish Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line: Provides Hispanic communities free, culturally tailored help and medications to quit commercial tobacco to those who call the line at 877-2NO-FUME.

• The American Indian Quit Line: Provides Native Americans free, culturally tailored help and medications to quit commercial tobacco to those who call the line at 1-888-7AI-QUIT.

• The Wisconsin Women’s Health Foundation’s First Breath program: Provides pregnant, postpartum, and caregiving people who smoke, as well as their family members, help to quit smoking. Since 2001, the program has helped over 24,000 women across the state. Learn more at www.joinfirstbreath.org.

• The Live Vape Free Program: Provides teens who are addicted to e-cigarettes free help by texting “VAPEFREE” to 873373. The program provides teens with interactive resources to help them determine their motivation for quitting and set a quit date. Additionally, adults who want to support a young person trying to quit e-cigarettes can participate in a free online course from Live Vape Free by visiting www.dhs.wisconsin. gov/vapefree.

If you are ready to quit, let The Great American Smokeout be your day to start your journey towards a smoke-free life. Your body may begin to feel the effects of quiting almost instantly.

Within thirty minutes, your heart rate and blood pressure begins to drop. Within a few days, carbon monoxide levels in your blood can return to normal. Within months, circulation can improve along with increased lung function.

To learn more about the Great American Smokeout and tools to help quit smoking, visit: https://www.cancer. org/healthy/stay-away-from-tobacco/great-american- smokeout.html For more on tobacco prevention and control efforts in Central Wisconsin, community members are encouraged to visit the Nicotine Prevention Alliance of Central Wisconsin at http://centralwinicotinefree.org/.