This week we launched a new public awareness campaign that encourages people in Arizona who want to quit smoking to call the Arizona Smokers’ Helpline, also known as the ASHLine. The ASHLine provides individualized coaching and offers up to four weeks free of nicotine replacement therapy such as patches, lozenges, and gum.

“Coaches on Coaching” features several prominent professional Arizona sports coaches that donated their time to talk about why good coaching helps people achieve their goals. Quitting smoking can be stressful and overwhelming. Having a coach on your side can more than double your chance of successfully quitting. That’s what our ASHLine coaches do every day, so the partnership with our sports community was a natural fit to show people how they can accomplish their goals.

The dangers of smoking are well known to everyone. Smoking has several negative impacts on your health, including increasing your risk of respiratory diseases, heart disease and cancer. A core function of public health is prevention of diseases. Our goal is to help Arizonans make smart choices about their health so they will live longer, healthier, and more productive lives. Quitting smoking can have an immediate benefit on a person’s overall health, which is why we provide the tools to help people quit for good.

Smoking is the number one cause of preventable death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We announced in September that the adult smoking rate in Arizona has dropped from 19 percent in 2011 to a historic low of 14 percent in 2015. This decrease translates to more than 200,000 Arizonans who quit smoking during the last five years.

Coaches on Coaching features Sandy Brondello, head coach, Phoenix Mercury; Earl Watson, head coach, Phoenix Suns; Todd Graham, head coach, Arizona State University Football; Tony La Russa, Hall of Fame baseball manager, advisor/analyst to the Arizona Diamondbacks; Dave Tippett, head coach, Arizona Coyotes; Frank Yallop, head coach, Arizona United; and Lute Olson, legendary head coach, University of Arizona Basketball.

 

Anyone who wants to quit smoking can call the ASHLine for free at 1-800-55-66-22 or visit ashline.org.