Are you ready to stop smoking? Stopping smoking isn’t easy, but it is easier with the right help.

The Clark County Health Department will be offering The American Lung Association’s Freedom From Smoking program starting next week, a program that gives you options, resources and support to stop for good.

Freedom From Smoking is the premier smoking cessation program from the American Lung Association. It helps smokers develop a plan of action that leads to a stop day. You will also get the support you need to remain smoke-free for life.

The Freedom From Smoking classes will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Clark County Home Health Agency, 273 Shoppers Drive, Winchester. Classes will last about 90 minutes and will run for eight to 10 weeks. There is a one-time fee of $5 for the group of classes. What will you learn if you come to the FFS classes? Here are a few ideas:

— How to know if you are really ready to quit

— Medications that can increase your success

— Lifestyle changes to make stopping easier

— How to prepare for your stop day

— Coping strategies for managing stress and avoiding weight gain

— Developing a new self-image

— How to stay smoke-free for good

Stopping smoking will certainly improve your health and the health of those around you. The rewards of becoming a nonsmoker are: blood pressure drops, pulse rate drops, ability to smell and taste is enhanced, chance of heart attack decreases, risk of dying from lung cancer is greatly decreased, you save at least $1000 a year, you smell better, you feel better, you don’t endanger others with you secondhand smoke amd you don’t endanger the environment.

Many people know the dangers of smoking and have thought about stopping, and think they really want to stop, but when it comes right down to it, they will not be successful. Most smokers have at least 2 or 3 attempts at stopping before they succeed. Personal desire, readiness and discipline are the key elements of being successful at stopping smoking and remaining smoke-free.

If stopping smoking is a for 2017, you might take this quiz to see if Freedom From Smoking is the right program.

1. Do you want to stop?

2. Is stopping a priority for you?

3. Have you tried to stop before?

4. Do you want to improve your health and your family’s health too?

5. Do you want to feel better and more in control of your life?

6. Are you ready to try to stop — even though it may be tough?

If you answered yes to even one of these questions, you owe it to yourself to find out how Freedom From Smoking could help you. For more information, contact Carolyn Burtner, FFS Facilitator, at 744-4482 or carolynm.burtner@ky.gov, for more information. Classes will begin Tuesday night.

Clark County Health Department provides programs for the entire family, including Cooper Clayton, WIC, HANDS, family planning, well child care/immunizations, and home health care. For more information, call 744-4482 or visit www.clarkhealthdept.org.