National

One More Hurdle Removed For B.C. Smokers Hoping To Quit In 2016

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 30 Dec, 2015 02:05 PM

VANCOUVER — The B.C. government is making it easier for smokers who want to kick the habit in 2016.

Health Minister Terry Lake says starting Jan. 1, anyone who wants to quit no longer needs to call HealthLink BC at 8-1-1 to join the province's smoking cessation program.

Lake says smokers can sign up at any pharmacy and have access to free nicotine replacement therapy products.

Options include nicotine lozenges, inhalers, gum, the nicotine skin patch, as well as specific prescription drugs.

B.C. Pharmacy Association CEO Geraldine Vance says pharmacists are committed to helping patients lead healthier lives and want to assist smokers with making 2016 the year they quit successfully.

The smoking cessation program began in 2011 and the province says it has invested more than $38-million since then, helping more than 187,000 people try to kick the habit.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Shaken City Of Vancouver Workers Return To The Job After Co-worker Shot Dead In Burnaby

VANCOUVER — The City of Vancouver confirms a veteran employee is the man fatally shot in a targeted attack in Burnaby, B.C.

Shaken City Of Vancouver Workers Return To The Job After Co-worker Shot Dead In Burnaby

B.C. Posts $1.68 Billion Surplus, Up From $184 Million Forecast In Feb. 2014

VICTORIA — British Columbia's finance minister says a higher-than-expected budget surplus leaves room for modest family initiatives but he's wary of escalating forest-fire costs and signs of economic downturns in Canada and internationally.

B.C. Posts $1.68 Billion Surplus, Up From $184 Million Forecast In Feb. 2014

B.C. Judge Says He Gets Man's Frustration But Threat Still Nets Firearms Ban

KAMLOOPS, B.C. — A Kamloops, B.C., man who threatened to drive his truck through the front doors of a hospital with a shotgun has been issued a one-year firearms ban.

B.C. Judge Says He Gets Man's Frustration But Threat Still Nets Firearms Ban

Vancouver Police Guard City Work Sites, While RCMP Probes 'Serious Incident'

Vancouver police, meanwhile, issued a release saying they've taken the "unusual steps" of securing public works yards and job sites due to a threat against a City of Vancouver employee

Vancouver Police Guard City Work Sites, While RCMP Probes 'Serious Incident'

'Extremely Dry' Level 4 Drought Declared For Lower Fraser And South Coast

VANCOUVER — British Columbia's Forests Minister says soaring temperatures and paltry rainfall have pushed the province's most heavily populated region to the highest alert level on the drought scale.

'Extremely Dry' Level 4 Drought Declared For Lower Fraser And South Coast

Man Says He's Physically OK After Blast That Killed Two Workers At B.C. Mill

BURNS LAKE, B.C. — A worker who escaped a Burns Lake, B.C., sawmill where an explosion killed two people says he didn't initially realize his face, hands and wrist were severely burned.