Quitting

It's Your Time

It’s never too late to quit tobacco. Just 12 hours after you quit smoking, the carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal. And after one year, your risk of coronary heart disease is half what it was when you were smoking.

Why quit now?

• Improve your health: Half of all smokers who continue to smoke will eventually die from smoking-related illness.
• Extend your life: The CDC estimates that adult male smokers lose an average of 13.2 years of life and adult female smokers lose 14.5 years of life because of smoking.
• Protect the health of those around you: Secondhand smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals (about 70 of which can cause cancer).
• Save time and money:  calculate the number of cigarettes you’ve smoked, and how much they’ve cost you.

Tips to quit

• Set a quit date.
• Tell family and friends about your quit plan.
• Anticipate and plan for challenges while quitting. How will you handle triggers and cravings?
• Remove tobacco from your home, car, work, and anywhere else you keep your tobacco.
• Talk to your doctor about other quit options.

Utah Tobacco Quit Line
1-800-QUIT-NOW

Spanish: 1-855-DÉJELO-YA (1-855-335-3569)
TTY: 1-877-777-6534
waytoquit.org 

Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Free and confidential quit coaching in more than 100 different languages. 

What happens when I call the Quit Line?

• Talk to a trained quit-coach who will help you develop a personalized quit plan
• Receive up to five individually tailored sessions with a quit-coach
• Receive information about how to help a family member or friend quit tobacco
• Discuss options for medications, including free Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) for those who qualify (youth are not eligible for NRT)

SmokefreeTXT 

Text “QUIT” to 47848 for daily quit tips.  
Standard text messaging rates apply. 

Other Resources

Visit smokefree.gov or call 1-800-44U-QUIT for additional quitting resources.

There are many resources available to help youth end their dependence on nicotine, including:

• This is Quitting from Truth Initiative
• quitStart app from SmokefreeTeen
• Tobacco cessation programs from your local school district

Quitting smoking when you’re pregnant is one of the best things you can do for you and your baby. 

According to the CDC, smoking while pregnant can:

• Increase your chance of having a miscarriage.
• Cause complications with the placenta, which is where the baby gets food and oxygen during pregnancy. Smoking can cause the placenta to separate from the womb too early, which is dangerous for both mom and baby.
• Cause your baby to be born early or at a low birth weight—which may mean your baby is in the hospital longer. Premature birth and low birth weight puts your baby at an increased risk of death.
• Cause Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). This is also a risk for babies that are exposed to secondhand smoke after they are born.

It’s never too late to quit tobacco during pregnancy! Here are some benefits to quitting during pregnancy:

• Your baby will get more oxygen after just one day of you not smoking.
• Less risk of premature birth
• Better chance that baby will not have to stay in the hospital longer than usual
• You will be less likely to develop smoking-related diseases
• You will be able to breathe easier and will have more energy

Pregnant women are eligible for all the same resources as other adults, plus additional quit coaching sessions from the Utah Tobacco Quit Line.

To get help quitting, call 1-800-QUIT-NOW or visit waytoquit.org.

Health care providers are in a unique position to address their patient’s tobacco use and help them become smoke-free. Health care providers should advise their patients to quit because:

• Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death
• Tobacco users expect to be encouraged to quit by their healthcare provider
• Healthcare providers can double the chances of successful quitting by advising their patients to quit using tobacco.
• Quitting tobacco takes multiple attempts. Patients who understand this may be more likely to make attempts to quit.

Ask, Advise, Connect

The “Ask, Advise, Refer” program encourages all healthcare providers to:

1. Ask  every patient about tobacco use
2. Advise patients who use tobacco to quit
3. Connect patients who use tobacco to quit resources (see below)

To schedule a provider training on-location at your facility about the Ask, Advise, and Connect program, call 385-468-5350 or email dengland@slco.org.

Quit Resources

The Utah Tobacco Quit Line is a free service for both adults and youth in either English or Spanish.

Refer a patient to the Quit Line.

The Quit Line will attempt to contact the patient multiple times. The quit line will also fax your office to inform you of the services that the patient received.

We recommend you note the Quit Line referral in the patient’s medical file to facilitate a follow-up during his or her next office visit.