Every year, more than 4,000 Albertans die because of commercial tobacco use, while tens of thousands more Albertans have serious tobacco-related illnesses. Tobacco and tobacco-like products can cause lung, heart, fertility, and other health problems.
If you want to cut down on your tobacco use but aren’t yet ready to quit:
- Lower the number of cigarettes or other tobacco products you use.
- Add more time between cigarettes or tobacco products.
- Smoke or use tobacco only during odd or even hours.
- Limit your smoking or using tobacco to certain places.
- Wait as late in the day as you can before use.
If you are ready to quit:
- Create a quit plan. AlbertaQuits.ca has a Tobacco Change Plan to help you quit.
- Make a list of reasons to quit smoking or using tobacco and reflect on them.
- Set a quit day. Think about when your quit date should be. Try within the next three weeks. Let someone close to you know you are making a quit attempt. Try to plan your quit day for when your stress levels are lowest.
Here are more resources to help you quit:
- ca provides information and tools to prepare for your quit.
- Talk to a counsellor at the AlbertaQuits helpline (1-866-710-7848). Free for all Alberta residents, it’s open from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, seven days a week.
- Register for QuitCore (albertaquits.ca), a free virtual or in-person group support program that provides Albertans (18+) with the tools and skills they need to quit using tobacco.
- Ask your doctor or other healthcare provider for one-on-one tobacco counselling.
- Sign up for AlbertaQuits by text. It’s a free, three-month text messaging program that delivers motivational messages, advice, and tips to your cell to help you quit. Text the word ABQUITS to number 123456 to register.
- Get support 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Addiction Helpline, 1-866-332-2322, or Health Link at 811.
- Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist about medications that can help you quit.
