Public Health Department works toward smoke free Muskingum County

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- The Zanesville-Muskingum County Public Health Department is working to make Muskingum County smoke free and to help smokers quit smoking.

The department says “smoking is the single largest cause of preventable disease and death in the United States”. Recently, the department helped the John McIntire Library become a smoke free campus and is hoping others will follow suit.

“We provide services and helping other organizations pursue that as well,” said Jessica Stonecypher a Health Educator. “So we hope that other folks will reach out to us and want to become involved in that movement.”

Stonecypher said smoking has a large effect on families of smokers. She said those looking to quit smoking can utilize many programs that are available to them.

“The health department offers a program for pregnant mothers who are smoking and want to quit and it’s actually an incentivized program,” said Stonecypher. “So they receive gift cards for quitting. They get some gift cards to help with the cost of diapers.”

Smokers can also call the Ohio Tobacco Quitline for free resources and free counseling sessions. They can also reach out to Rambo and Genesis for cessation programs.