UPDATED, February 13, 2017 -- The Smoking Cessation Trust began enrolling members in April 2012. Since that time, the free program to help Louisiana smokers quit has approved 67,200 out of 69,956 membership applications (96%) submitted. The program generated 22,200 applications in 2016, up 2,093 (10%) from 2015. Last month, 2,228 Louisiana smokers enrolled in the program.
The Smoking Cessation Trust offers free medications, nicotine replacement therapy (gum, patches, lozengers, inhalers), group and individual counseling, and quit-line coaching to help Louisiana residents who started smoking prior to September 1, 1988 quit. All programs and services are provided at no cost to taxpayers or the state.
"I really want to THANK YOU. June 21st will be a year that I have not smoked a cigarette, nor do I plan to ever again. I tried and failed so many times, but after registering here (on www.SmokeFreeLA.org) and reading the 'plan to quit' material, I finally made it to my doctor's office and got my script for medication. After 31 years of smoking, I can now truly say I am a non-smoker. This plan made it easy for me to quit." -- Deneise Means, Alexandria, LA, 5/12/16
Thanks to referrals from healthcare influencers throughout Louisiana, the Smoking Cessation Trust averaged 1,850 new member applications throughout 2016, 1,192 per month since April 2012 and 1,634 since January 1, 2014.The Trust receives referrals from healthcare providers, health advocates, health systems, health plans, independent pharmacies and the friends and loved ones of smokers throughout Louisiana.
The Smoking Cessation Trust is the result of a court judgment in a 14-year-old class action lawsuit entitled Scott v. American Tobacco Company. The judgment became final in 2011 and ordered certain tobacco companies to fund a statewide, 10-year smoking cessation program to benefit more than 210,000 Louisiana smokers who are members of the plaintiff class (the "Scott Class"). The recipient of the award was a court-established and court-supervised smoking cessation program to benefit all Louisiana residents who began smoking cigarettes before September 1, 1988.
Here’s an ever-expanding list of Smoking Cessation Trust provider partners located throughout Louisiana:
- Affinity Health Group,
- Baton Rouge General,
- Cardiovascular Institute of the South,
- Daughters of Charity Health Centers,
- East Jefferson General Hospital,
- Imperial Health,
- Louisiana Heart Hospital,
- LSU School of Public Health,
- Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center,
- Minute Clinic/CVS Health,
- Ochsner Health System,
- Our Lady of the Lake Physician Group,
- The Rapides Foundation,
- St. Francis Medical Center,
- West Jefferson Medical Center,
- Willis-Knighton Health System
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