Quitting tobacco involves physical, behavioral, and psychological aspects. If you’re ready to quit, you need a plan. Research shows your best chance for long-term success happens when you do these three things:
Consult a health or medical professional. They can provide information about the proper use of medication and/or nicotine replacement products.
Check out the variety of free available resources. Everyone’s journey is different, so try out different resources until you find what works for you.
Don’t give up! Research shows that it can take multiple tries to quit smoking before it sticks. Know that with every attempt to quit, your success rate goes up!
Just the Facts
Check out the good, the bad and the ugly of tobacco use.
1 year after quitting, the excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of someone who still smokes. Your heart attack risk drops dramatically.
Significant bone loss has been found in older women and men who smoke. Quitting smoking appears to reduce the risk for low bone mass and fractures.
Smokers who quit before the age of 40 “reduce their chance of dying prematurely from smoking-related diseases by more than 90 percent.”
Smoking negatively affects your sex life and reproductive system, increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, and decreases immune system function.
Wherever smoke touches living cells, it does harm. In 2020, the prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults in Indiana was 19.4%. Nationally, the prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults was 15.5%.
Secondhand smoke causes numerous health problems in infants and children, including more frequent and severe asthma attacks, respiratory infections, ear infections, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Smoking during pregnancy results in more than 1,000 infant deaths annually.
As many tobacco users know, kicking the habit is not easy. But success rates increase with every attempt to quit. At Indiana University and beyond, there are resources and support systems ready to help you quit tobacco!
IU Employee Benefits
The Indiana Tobacco Quitline is available to all Indiana residents, seven days a week, at no cost.
When you call the Quitline, a trained Quit Coach will provide:
An assessment of readiness to quit
A customized quit plan
Motivation and problem-solving advice
Up-to-date information about nicotine replacement therapy
A Quit Kit tailored to your needs, including materials in English or Spanish
Referral to cessation services offered by local resources or by health plans
Quitline staff are skilled at working with people who use all forms of tobacco products, including smokeless tobacco, pipes, cigars, and e-cigarettes.
Eligibility: Anyone enrolled in an IU-sponsored medical plan
IU-sponsored medical plans cover 100% of the cost of tobacco cessation prescriptions and over-the-counter tobacco replacement products. Coverage is limited to a 180-day supply per covered individual per year. Review the list of covered medications on your medical plan. Over-the-counter products must be prescribed by a physician to be covered.
Eligibility: Full-time Academic and Staff employees and spouses who are enrolled in an IU-sponsored medical plan
You can complete an affidavit indicating you and/or your spouse do not use tobacco and will not in the future to reduce your medical premium contribution each year. Contact HR for more information. Contact HR for more information.
Bloomington Housing Authority — Quit Tobacco: Free 8-week smoking cessation class. Includes Nicotine Replacement Therapy (patches/gum/lozenges). Four weeks of teaching and four weeks of Nicotine Replacement Therapy.
IU Student Health Center, Health and Wellness Tobacco Cessation: It’s quitting time. Many students use nicotine products to cope with stress from school, work, or family expectations. But did you know Indiana University is tobacco- and smoke-free? This includes all types of vaping products (also known as e-cigarettes). At the Student Health Center, we can help you kick the habit. Our tobacco and vaping cessation services are FREE, and we won’t lecture you.
Baby & Me Tobacco Free: An evidence based, smoking cessation program created to reduce the burden of tobacco on the pregnant and postpartum population. Programs are available in and near the Bloomington area.
IU Indianapolis Health Services: Tips and cessation opportunities to help make the transition to a nicotine-free life a little easier.
IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Tobacco Treatment Program: One-on-one counseling, assistance with medication options and other resources for Simon Cancer Center patients. Services are provided by highly skilled Tobacco Treatment Specialists. Call 317-944-7848 or email stoptobacco@iuhealth.org
Baby & Me Tobacco Free:An evidence based, smoking cessation program created to reduce the burden of tobacco on the pregnant and postpartum population. Programs are available in and near the Indianapolis area.
IU Health Cessation Programs: Smoking cessation programs offer you a variety of tools and support to make the quitting process easier so that you can begin to restore your health.
IU Health Cessation Programs: Smoking cessation programs offer you a variety of tools and support to make the quitting process easier so that you can begin to restore your health.
Baby & Me Tobacco Free: An evidence based, smoking cessation program created to reduce the burden of tobacco on the pregnant and postpartum population. Programs are available in and near the Columbus area.
Baby & Me Tobacco Free: An evidence based, smoking cessation program created to reduce the burden of tobacco on the pregnant and postpartum population. Programs are available in and near the South Bend area.
Baby & Me Tobacco Free: An evidence based, smoking cessation program created to reduce the burden of tobacco on the pregnant and postpartum population. Programs are available in and near the Fort Wayne area.
YMCA Tobacco Cessation: If you or someone you know is ready to free themselves from tobacco, free resources for quitting are available.
Community Health Network Nicotine Dependence Program: Each quit smoking class includes a QuitSmart Stop Smoking Kit and personalized instruction from a Certified QuitSmart Leader. Individual instruction also is available, either in person or over the phone.
Baby & Me Tobacco Free: An evidence based, smoking cessation program created to reduce the burden of tobacco on the pregnant and postpartum population. Programs are available in and near the Kokomo area.
Tobacco Free Lake County: Tobacco Free Lake County (TFLC) serves all Lake County residents, workers, and organizations. Our mission is to train schools, communities, health care professionals, and individual people in tobacco prevention and quitting tobacco. All services are free or at low cost.
Methodist Hospitals’ Smoking Cessation Classes: Methodist Hospitals’ Smoking Cessation Classes are based on the highly successful American Lung Association’s Freedom from Smoking Program, which has helped people across the U.S. take control of their health by quitting smoking.
Baby & Me Tobacco Free: An evidence based, smoking cessation program created to reduce the burden of tobacco on the pregnant and postpartum population. Programs are available in and near the Gary area.
Southern Indiana Rehab Hospital — Freedom from Smoking Clinic: Free, 7-week, 8-session smoking cessation program. Call 812-941-6159 to learn more.
Clark Memorial Health Smoking Cessation Program: Clark Memorial’s Smoking Cessation Program, in conjunction with the Clark County Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Coalition, can help you every step of the way. Through our partnership with the Coalition, quit coaches will help you create the cessation plan that’s right for you, whether you want to quit cigarettes or spit tobacco.
Baby & Me Tobacco Free: An evidence based, smoking cessation program created to reduce the burden of tobacco on the pregnant and postpartum population. Programs are available in and near the New Albany area.
Statewide Resources
Standing order for tobacco cessation products: State Health Commissioner Kris Box, M.D., FACOG, issued a standing order effective Aug. 1 2019 allowing Hoosiers to purchase tobacco cessation products at Indiana pharmacies without having to obtain an individual prescription. Indiana becomes only the 12th state with a policy or standing order allowing pharmacists to prescribe tobacco cessation products, eliminating financial and time barriers for individuals considering quitting smoking.
American Cancer Society: Funds and conducts research, shares expert information, supports patients, and spreads the word about prevention.
Smokefree.gov: Resources for veterans, women, teens, Spanish speakers, 60+ populations, and more.
Truth Initiative: Provides youth smoking prevention & education, community and youth engagement, quitting tools and programs.
Stop Tobacco Mobile Trainer: A free app to help strengthen your motivation to quit smoking, manage anxiety, invent tricks to beat the hook of tobacco and learn to control your environment so that you're better adapted to the changes in this new stage of your life.
Smoke Free — Quit Smoking Now: A free app that helps track progress of cessation by showing how long a person has been smoke-free, how much money they have saved from not smoking, how their health is improving and more.
This Is Quitting: A first-of-its-kind program to help young people quit vaping.
BecomeAnEx: Quit-smoking plan and online community of thousands of smokers and ex-smokers developed by Truth Initiative in collaboration with Mayo Clinic.
American Heart Association: Works to fight heart disease and stroke, striving to save and improve lives.
Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights: Creates comprehensive programs to prevent the harmful effects of secondhand smoke and smoking among youth and adults.
Take Down Tobacco: National day of activism that empowers youth to stand out, speak up and seize control against Big Tobacco.
World No Tobacco Day: Raises awareness on the harmful and deadly effects of tobacco use and second-hand smoke exposure, and discourages the use of tobacco in any form.
Did you know IU is a tobacco-free university? Find more information on the Tobacco-Free IU policy. This policy is overseen by the Office of the Chief Health Officer. For questions on the policy, contact the Chief Health Officer at cho@iu.edu
