A four-week supply of free nicotine replacement therapy is available to all uninsured Georgians trying to break their smoking habits.

The Georgia Department of Public Health has grant money from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide smokers 18 years and older with nicotine supplements in the form of gum and patches.

Nicotine replacement therapy involves the use of products that provide low doses of nicotine but do not contain the toxins found in smoke.

Medline Plus, the National Institutes of Health’s Web site, says that of all the nicotine supplement forms, the patch and the gum are most likely to be used correctly.

Smokers who don’t cheat on their first day of use are 10 times more likely to permanently stop smoking.

Qualified candidates can contact the 24/7 Georgia Tobacco Quit Line at 1-877-270-STOP (7867) for the free supplements. It provides free and confidential tobacco cessation telephone and Web-based counseling to all Georgia tobacco users ages 13 and older, including pregnant and postpartum women.

Statewide, more than 1.5 million Georgians smoke cigarettes and another 315,000 use some form of smokeless tobacco. Since 2001, the Georgia Tobacco Quit Line has helped nearly 85,000 Georgians in their attempts to quit smoking.

Dr. Kimberly Redding, who directs the state’s Health Promotion & Disease Prevention section, said tobacco use is the No. 1 preventable cause of death in the state. Each year, more than 10,000 die from smoke-related illnesses,

For more information, visit www.livehealthygeorgia.org/peoplesmokefree.shtml or call Nancy Nydam at 404-657-2462.