Smoking Cessation Resources 

For Employees: Health Insurance Companies (Blue Cross, Cigna, United Healthcare)

·         Smoking Cessation aids requiring a prescription with a limit of:

·         One (1) 90-day prescription per year

·         Two (2) 90-day prescriptions per lifetime

Smoking Cessation Classes/Counseling

· For Students and Employees: Coming Soon - The Student Health Clinic will be offering Smoking Cessation class and workshops.  For more information, click here or contact Wyeth Lawson, College of Nursing, Student Health Clinic, 439-4500.

· For Students: Student Counseling Center, 439-4841.

· For Employees:  EAP Counseling: Up to six free visits are available for employees and eligible family members for: developing smoking/tobacco use cessation plans; those struggling with issues related to smoking/tobacco use cessation; communications conflict issues within the family related to cessation.  Call the Tennessee EAP toll-free number,1-800-308-4394, 24 hours a day. If you would like the convenience of a provider on the ETSU campus, request Dr. Mike Floyd when you initially speak with the EAP counselor. If you have questions for Dr. Floyd, you may contact him at ETSU’s Johnson City Family Medicine Clinic, 917 West Walnut Street, Johnson City, TN, telephone 423-439-6464 or by email at floyd@etsu.edu.

General Information

1. Tennessee Tobacco QuitLine program:  http://health.state.tn.us/tobaccoquitline.htm .  It is hard to quit smoking, but studies show that people who use a program really do better. Now you can sign up for the FREE Tennessee Tobacco Quit Line program to help you quit for good.  1-800-QUIT NOW (1-800-784-8669) Mon. – Fri. 9-4:30 EST. This quit line is sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. You will talk to someone for up to 30 minutes who will help you design a quit plan specifically for your needs. They also offer other means of support if you desire.
2. Smokefree Tennessee:  http://health.state.tn.us/smokefreetennessee/
3. Mountain States Health Alliance Health Resources Center, Johnson City Mall, 423-952-3700 or 800-888-5551, Monday – Friday 7 a.m. -6 p.m. Beat the Smoking Habit! Classes and workshops.

4.      Quit Tobacco Now  (Nicotine Free Mountain Empire) http://www.kingsporttomorrow.org/?CONTEXT=art&cat=10&art=43&BISKIT=20385 . 

5.      1-800-LUNG USA or  www.lungusa.org  (American Lung Association)

6.      http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/PED_10.asp  (American Cancer Society)

7.      http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3048036 (American Heart Association)

8.      www.smokefree.gov  (National Cancer Institute and CDC)

9.      http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Tobacco/cessation  (National Cancer Institute)

10.  http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/index.htm (Centers for Disease Control-CDC)

11.  www.quitnet.com  (Healthways Foundation)

12.  www.americanlegacy.org/greatstart  for pregnant smokers (American Legacy Foundation)

13.  http://www.ahcpr.gov/consumer/index.html#smoking  (Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality, U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services)

Message from Dr. Paul E. Stanton, Jr.
President
East Tennessee State University

 SUBJECT: Tobacco-Free Campus Policy

 Dear ETSU Faculty, Staff, and Students,

 In recognition of our commitment to provide for everyone a clean, healthy environment conducive to working, learning, and living, East Tennessee State University will officially become a “Tobacco-Free Campus” on  August 11, 2008, six months from today.  Smoking and all other tobacco usage will be permitted only in private vehicles. 

 While we have banned smoking and tobacco use in all university buildings and facilities for a decade, this expansion of our current Smoking and Tobacco-Free Workplace Policy (PPP-53, established in 1997) actively addresses more recent health concerns expressed by our campus community.  At the behest of the Faculty Senate and the Staff Senate, as well as other personnel and students, we are strengthening our policy to reflect these valid concerns regarding health issues and environmental aesthetics.  On behalf of the ETSU community, I commend each of the individuals on the university’s Tobacco Task Force and the Task Force Working Group for their dedication to this endeavor. 

 The revised and expanded policy – accessible at http://www.etsu.edu/humanres/ppp/PPP-53.htm -- applies to our main campus as well as other university sites; all ETSU-affiliated off-campus locations and clinics; any buildings owned, leased, or rented by ETSU in all other areas; and ETSU facilities located on the campus of the James H. Quillen Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Mountain Home. Tobacco use is also prohibited in all state vehicles. 

ETSU is the flagship health sciences university in our governing Tennessee Board of Regents system, and, as such, we bear responsibility for maintaining an environment free from smoke and tobacco.  Revising the policy to reflect increasing concerns about smoking and the use of other tobacco products is an appropriate response to these ongoing issues.   

The university is sensitive to the importance of tobacco in the Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and Western North Carolina region, and I am confident that researchers will continue to explore alternative uses of tobacco that would benefit the economy and health care.  For example, such beneficial uses might include vitamins and other pharmaceuticals.

 Over the next several months, we will post signs and temporary banners around campus to ensure that visitors and members of the ETSU community are aware of the expanded Tobacco-Free Campus Policy and the restriction to private vehicles. 

 And, in understanding the addictive nature of tobacco products, we are offering current information about available resources for the benefit of persons who wish to stop using tobacco, at http://www.etsu.edu/humanres/smokingcessationresources.htm. 

Contact: Kristn Clark Fry

February 11, 2008

ETSU to become Tobacco-Free Campus, limits tobacco use to private vehicles only, effective this August

JOHNSON CITY – A campuswide message today from East Tennessee State University  President Dr. Paul E. Stanton Jr. announces that ETSU is expanding its current Smoking and Tobacco-Free Workplace Policy, established in 1997, to limit all use of tobacco products to private vehicles. 

Stanton said, “In recognition of our commitment to provide for everyone a clean, healthy environment conducive to working, learning and living, East Tennessee State University will officially become a ‘Tobacco-Free Campus’ on Aug. 11, 2008, six months from today.  Smoking and all other tobacco usage will be permitted only in private vehicles.” 

Reiterating what he initially noted more than a decade ago, Stanton pointed out that ETSU is the flagship health sciences university in the entire Tennessee Board of Regents system, and, as such, the issue of tobacco use has even more significance. 

“We set an example for the rest of the state in 1997 by banning the use of tobacco in all  university buildings,” Stanton said.  “Revising our policy to reflect increasing health concerns about smoking and the use of other tobacco products is an appropriate response for ETSU regarding these ongoing issues.”

The university began the process of strengthening its policy at the behest of the ETSU Faculty and Staff senates, as well as other personnel and students.  The Tobacco-Free Campus Policy addresses expressed concerns regarding personal health issues and campus environmental aesthetics, and further notes that “failure to address the use of tobacco products on campus would constitute a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Vocational Rehabilitation Act and Tennessee law.”

ETSU is sensitive to the importance of tobacco in the Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia and Western North Carolina region, and Stanton said he is confident that researchers will continue to explore alternative uses of tobacco that would benefit the economy and health care.  For example, such beneficial uses might include vitamins and other pharmaceuticals.

The Tobacco-Free Campus Policy is in effect 24 hours a day year-round and applies to the main campus in Johnson City as well as all other university sites, ETSU-affiliated off-campus locations and clinics, and ETSU facilities on the campus of the James H. Quillen Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Mountain Home. Tobacco use is also prohibited in all state vehicles.

Over the next several months, the university will post signs and banners to ensure that visitors and members of the ETSU community are aware of the Tobacco-Free Campus Policy and the restriction to private vehicles.

Stanton said, “And, in understanding the addictive nature of tobacco products, we are offering current information about available resources for the benefit of persons who wish to stop using tobacco, at http://www.etsu.edu/humanres/smokingcessationresources.htm.”

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ETSU Smoking Cessation Program
Tentative Program Plans