According to the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS), about 17% of New Jersey adults are smokers. About 76% of smokers want to quit, but only about 10% successfully quit without outside help.
What this means is that people need help to quit. Understanding this, the DHSS offers a broad spectrum of quit services that not a lot of people know about. If you are a smoker and want to quit, you can get friendly and effective help here:
New Jersey Quitcenters: a network of seven smoking cessation clinics located across the state that offers a customized, face-to-face approach to quitting. The New Jersey Quitcenter program combines intensive individual or group counseling with the supervised use of nicotine patches, gum and inhalers. Centers provide services on a sliding-fee scale according to income and clients can purchase over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapy products at a reduced cost. For New Jersey Quitcenter locations, visit www.nj.quitnet.com or call 1-866-NJ ÐSTOPS.
New Jersey Quitline: (1-866-NJ-STOPS) a free, telephone-based counseling and referral service, available six days a week in 26 different languages. New Jersey Quitline counselors have been trained by the American Cancer Society and work with clients to develop an individualized treatment plan including ongoing support and follow-up. Using New Jersey Quitline, smokers are three times more likely to succeed – with more than 30 percent of registered users reporting they were tobacco free after six months.
New Jersey QuitNet: (www.nj.quitnet.com) a free, online information, counseling and referral service that offers a variety of resources to help people break the control of nicotine. This service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. New Jersey QuitNet users have access to trained counselors. Online chat rooms provide real-time support from other smokers using New Jersey QuitNet to quit smoking. Other tools include a quitting calendar, quitting strategies and a directory of local treatment programs and support groups.-nj.com
Anyone interested in quitting smoking or helping a friend, family member, patient, or employee quit smoking can visit New Jersey’s Quit Services Web site to learn more.
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