Clinical Guidelines
- Smoking Cessation Guidelines (U.S. Public Health Service)
In May 2008, the U.S. Public Health Service released revised clinical practice guidelines for treating tobacco addiction.The update, the first since 2000, encourages doctors to make tobacco cessation a priority for every patient who smokes, using medication and counseling. Among the changes in the revised guidelines:- Counseling adds significantly to the effectiveness of medications in smoking control, and the two together work better than either alone. Counseling also increases smoking cessation among adolescents.
- Telephone quit lines have broad reach and work with diverse populations.
- Seven medications are now available that increase the likelihood of long-term smoking abstinence — varenicline (Chantix); bupropion SR (Zyban); and nicotine delivered as gum, inhaler, lozenge, nasal spray, or patch.
Visit Anne Arundel County’s Learn To Live smoking cessation webpage for more information.
Patient Handouts/Tools
- The Youth Quit Kit, Adult Quit Kit and Xtreme Quitting Kit are available from the Department of Health by calling Learn To Live at 410-222-7979 or download or order online now.
- Smoking Stinks Website
- Spanish Quit Smoking Kit for County’s Hispanic residents, click here.
- Refer patients to MyQuitkit.org
Presentations
Smoking Cessation for Primary Care Physicians (2013)
This presentation is available as a PowerPoint.
Additional Resources
Surgeon General’s Report on the Effects of Secondhand Smoke
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Smoking & Tobacco Use
Referrals
Currently, Anne Arundel Medical Center, University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center and Owensville Primary Care offer smoking cessation classes. The Department of Health financially supports some of these classes, in which case they are free and free nicotine replacement therapy is provided to eligible participants. Information about these programs can be found at: