Wisconsin residents who want to quit smoking will have some extra help available after the first of the year. The Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line is launching several new services to help make it easier for people to kick the habit.
Dr. Michael Fiore with the UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention says the New Year often leads to a flood of people looking to stop smoking. Those numbers are expected to climb higher this year because a new dollar a pack tax increase kicks in at the start of 2008.
To help those people, Dr. Fiore says the Quit Line will begin offering expanded services on January first. In addition to counseling, the agency will also have a stop smoking starter kit it will send out to callers. That will include a two week supply of medication that can ease the transition to a non-smoking lifestyle. The Quit Line will also begin using some online features to help smokers quit.
The Quit Line can be reached at 1-800-QUIT-NOW.