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B.C. Stop Smoking Program Gets 100,000 Orders For Free Products In 6 Months

Posted: 04/18/2012 7:09 pm Updated: 04/20/2012 10:53 am

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VICTORIA - A B.C. government program that offers people free products like prescription drugs and nicotine patches to help them stop smoking has racked up 100,000 orders in its first six months.

The government will provide smokers with a single course of a prescribed smoking cessation drug like Champix and Zyban, or a free 12-week supply of nicotine replacement gum or patches.

The program, which began Sept. 30, allows B.C. residents enrolled in the Medical Services Plan to get PharmaCare coverage for the products for one calendar year.

It's estimated the products will cost the government up to $25 million, but Health Minister Mike de Jong says the health savings from people quitting smoking far outweigh what the province is spending on the program.

Smokers can get help by calling the 811 health line or going to the QuitNow website, and the government is enhancing the site at the end of April with a live-chat service where counsellors can coach smokers in their efforts to quit.

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VICTORIA - A B.C. government program that offers people free products like prescription drugs and nicotine patches to help them stop smoking has racked up 100,000 orders in its first six months.The go...
VICTORIA - A B.C. government program that offers people free products like prescription drugs and nicotine patches to help them stop smoking has racked up 100,000 orders in its first six months.The go...
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Add In Canadia
Egotism is a weakness
413 Fans
05:04 AM on 04/19/2012
I think 'health savings' is a rather silly concept. The only way the health care system system 'saves' money is if people die a quick clean death. Sure people won't die from lung cancer or various respiratory diseases, but this just means people will simply end up suffering from some other kind of disease further down the road. Either way it's going to cost money to keep people alive.

So really the only thing that that really can be claimed is people living longer and healthier. Still, it's good that smoking is getting pushed out.
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dyncon
19 Fans
03:29 AM on 04/19/2012
I know a program that will deter smoking and save B.C. $25 million. Public floggings for those caught with cigarettes, with nicotine on their hands or nicotine breath.
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Bob Linda McMaster
13 Fans
05:23 AM on 04/19/2012
And lets not forget the evil weed. You know the one they want to legalize? On second thought I guess I'm for it. It's about time these yuppies started paying tax for their smokes eh!
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Tsvi1
184 Fans
09:57 AM on 04/19/2012
Yeah, like the how in the Reformation they got rid of homosexuality by setting gays on fire.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Lou on Vancouver Island
Allin, Lou: Mystery Author
1274 Fans
12:01 AM on 04/19/2012
Well done, my BC. After forty years of smoking six to ten cigarettes a day, my partner and I quit cold turkey. Never looked back. No drugs necessary.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
omega777
Yellow cake is the Bomb
2386 Fans
11:20 PM on 04/18/2012
Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life. Brooke Shields
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BUTCHER99
210 Fans
11:16 PM on 04/18/2012
Great start.
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William Hopper
19 Fans
09:42 PM on 04/18/2012
How about you just stop taxing smoking cessation products? And idea how offensive it is for the governments t make money as both purveyor of the product AND champion of its cure?
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oxjr
278 Fans
 
11:44 PM on 04/18/2012
Prohibition would not work - it rarely does. Even taxing cigarettes in an attempt to pay for the cost of the cancer, strokes and heart disease doesn't work. The government can only tax cigs to what the market will bear (before it causes a black market). No - the only solution is to continue to keep smoking a choice - but keep working hard to make people realize it is a bad one.
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TheRenaissanceMan
A starry-eyed idealist with too much time
24 Fans
04:12 AM on 04/19/2012
The high price is supposed to be a deterrent. Prohibition doesn't work.
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Bob Linda McMaster
13 Fans
05:33 AM on 04/19/2012
No the high price is tax and Government greed. And now they aren't making enough on cigarette sales they are going to legalize weed and tax it. Wait till you see the tax on that.
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