February 24, 2009 - Qualified smokers interested in quitting have a last minute opportunity to receive six weeks of free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT).

There are 2,000 doses left in the third province-wide mass distribution of free NRTs for qualified smokers.

“This supply will be gone within a week. It would be a shame if smokers in our region didn’t jump on the opportunity to double their chance of successfully quitting smoking,” said Ken Ranta, Manager of Tobacco Programs at the Thunder Bay District Health Unit. “The distribution started a month ago with 11,000 doses for the whole province so you can see the demand.”

By participating in the STOP (Smoking Treatment for Ontario Patients) Study eligible smokers will receive six weeks of free NRT along with information on how to use NRT and how to prepare a personal quit plan. As a genuine, scientific study, there are conditions each smoker must to meet to qualify. Interested smokers can find out more information by either visiting www.stopstudy.ca or calling 1-866-484-9022.

The STOP Study is funded by Smoke Free Ontario, under the Ministry of Health Promotion and is being conducted by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. 

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