It’s Great American Smokeout Day! Sign up for FREE Smoking Cessation Classes

Sign Up for the Next Session of Board of Health’s FREE Smoking Cessation Classes Starting in January

Once people were able to smoke on airplanes, in schools, restaurants, even hospitals, just about everywhere we went.  Not anymore.  The Great American Smokeout, started nationally in 1977 by the American Cancer Society, has helped flip American attitudes about smoking.  Fulton County has outlawed smoking in its buildings and facilities, and most public places and work environments around the country are now smoke-free.

“Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and disability in the U.S.”

That’s according to the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which also points out U. S. smoking rates have dropped from 42% in 1965 to 15% in 2015.  In Georgia, about 21% of adults still smoke cigarettes.  The percentage of smokers in Fulton County is lower than the state and national averages—13%, or 13 of 100 persons uses tobacco.   Health officials say what’s alarming is the increase in the use of electronic or E-cigarettes, hookah pipe and cigar smoking among young people. 

Our program, Freedom From Smoking^®, is based on science.

The BOH’s Health Promotion Department has just completed its pilot Freedom From Smoking^® program created by the American Lung Association.  This “evidence-based” program has helped hundreds of thousands of smokers to “give it up” over the last 37 years. All of the experts say the best way to quit tobacco is with support, and that’s exactly what the program offers—support and guidance.

Session Topics

Session 1 – Thinking About Quitting

Session 2 – On the Road to Freedom

Session 3 – Wanting to Quit

Session 4 – Quit Day

Session 5 -- Winning Strategies

Session 6 – The New You

Session 7 – Staying Off

Session 8 – Celebration

For information on the smoking cessation classes, contact Health Program Administrator Kristin Dixon by email or phone:   kristin.dixon@fultoncountyga.gov or 404-612-1688. The Georgia Quit Line is also available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for help quitting smoking:  for English, call 1-877-270-STOP (7867); for Spanish, 1-855-DEJELO-YA; and if the line for persons who are hearing impaired is 1-877-777-6534.