It’s Quittin’ Time in Tennessee!

This week, February 5-9, is Tennessee Quit week, a campaign sponsored by the Tennessee Department of Health that celebrates and promotes ending the use of tobacco products by Tennesseans. The week is used as a platform to raise awareness for the Tennessee Tobacco Quitline 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) and other free resources available to help individuals stop smoking and using tobacco products.

The Tennessee Tobacco Quitline uses both in-person counseling, and an internet-based program that can be twice as effective at helping individuals quit using. The process includes talking with a counselor who will help create a unique quit plan to fit an individual’s needs. According to the U.S. Public Health Service, those who work with health-care professionals are more successful in quitting.

Tennessee is ranked the 43^rd highest state in the US concerning in the number of smoking adults. Along with efforts pointed at the decrease those current adult tobacco users, there is much being done to combat youth engagement with such products.

According to the decreasing percentages of younger users of tobacco, released in a recent CDC study, preventative measures are being implemented in schools to teach middle and high school students the real effects and addiction of tobacco. This is one way organizations are making a difference in the statistics of younger users.

Tennessee’s youth-led tobacco control movement, TNSTRONG is leading the movement to achieve Tennessee’s first tobacco-free generation. The overall state statistics have shown a decrease in youth use of tobacco from 21.7 percent in 2016 to 16.7 percent this year.

Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner John Dreyzehner continued to express why it is so important to reach out to the younger generation who are being exposed to tobacco use. In a recent press release from the TDH he states, “the impacts of tobacco and nicotine addiction in Tennessee go beyond the damage done to the health, quality of life and incomes of people using these products, most of whom got addicted as youth.”

If you are in the process of quitting or are considering quitting your use of tobacco, please call the Tennessee Tobacco Quitline at 1-800-784-8669 or visit www.tnquitline.org for more information.