News

SIMCOE, July 21, 2015 – For many smokers the cost of nicotine replacement products can be a barrier to quitting. The STOP (Smoking Treatment for Ontario Patients) Program offers eligible participants in Haldimand and Norfolk counties five weeks of cost-free nicotine replacement therapy and smoking cessation information to help them in their quit attempt.

Nicotine replacement therapy has been shown to effectively help people quit smoking by easing withdrawal symptoms. Workshop participants also receive education material with quit smoking and relapse prevention strategies, along with information to address other unhealthy lifestyle factors that are known to accompany smoking.

STOP workshops will be held July 27th in Dunnville, July 28th in Caledonia and July 29th in Simcoe. For more information, to see if you are eligible to participate, and to register for the workshops call Eric Robertson at (905) 318-5367 ext. 310 in Haldimand County, and (519) 426-6170 ext. 3804 in Norfolk County.

The STOP Program is led by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), and is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care as part of its Smoke-Free Ontario Strategy. CAMH is Canada’s leading addiction and mental health teaching hospital. Integrating clinical care, scientific research, education, policy development and health promotion, CAMH transforms the lives of people impact by mental health and addiction issues.

For more information contact: Michael Torres, CAMH Media Relations, at (416) 595-6015.

Background: The STOP Program

Introduced in 2005 through a partnership between the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the former Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport, the STOP Program has already provided smoking cessation medication, free of charge, along with behavioural support to an unprecedented 90, 000 Ontarians.

Questionnaires administered pre- and post-treatment will help STOP Program researchers learn more about the long-term impact of providing nicotine replacement therapy and other smoking cessation ads free of charge to smokers across Ontario. To date, results for STOP participants have shown an improvement of at least two times the typical quit rates.

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Media contact:
Eric Robertson
Public Health Nurse
Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit
905-318-5367 ext. 312
[email protected]