FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 15, 2006
Teens have new aid to help them give up tobacco
COLUMBIA – South Carolina youth now have access to a free, telephone-based program designed to help them quit tobacco, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control announced today.
“We have expanded the S.C. Tobacco Quitline to provide the Youth Support Program throughout the state and particularly to offer services to youths in communities that may not have classroom cessation and prevention programs,” said Sharon Biggers, director of DHEC’s Division of Tobacco Prevention and Control. “Since the Youth Access to Tobacco Prevention Act took effect in August, there has been a growing demand statewide for youth-focused cessation programs.”
Biggers said the new law prohibits minors younger than 18 from buying or possessing any tobacco product. A minor who violates the law can be fined up to $25 or required to successfully complete a DHEC-approved smoking cessation or tobacco prevention program.
“The phone-based Youth Support Program has been added to the list of approved cessation programs that meet the requirements of the law,” Biggers said. “As part of this program, the participant will take part in a five-call, individually-tailored quitting program that includes discussion of triggers, peer influences and stressors.
“Receiving the program via telephone is appealing to young people because it is a familiar communication tool and a more attractive alternative than classrooms or other group settings,” Biggers said. “A phone-based program can be accessed anywhere, at any time, without transportation difficulties and scheduling conflicts that youth often experience.”
Biggers said DHEC is providing Youth Support Program referral forms to municipal and magistrate courts around the state to guide young people to the service.
The S.C. Tobacco Quitline, 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669), including the new Youth Support Program, is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to midnight.
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For more information:
Mary-Kathryn Craft – (803) 545-4466
E-mail – craftmk@dhec.sc.gov
or
Adam Myrick – (803) 898-3884
E-mail – myrickar@dhec.sc.gov
MNR0089