According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, causing more than 440,000 deaths each year and costing $75 billion a year in direct medical costs. The Rockland County Department of Health created the "Put It Out Rockland" adult smoking cessation program to help motivated smokers quit. According to a May 2003 random-digit dial telephone survey, approximately 15.4 percent of Rockland County adults smoke. Many Rockland smokers want to quit. In fact, the survey found that 70 percent of smokers are "thinking of quitting" and 46 percent of smokers have made at least one serious attempt in the past year. To meet these smokers' needs, the health department created the comprehensive behavior modification program that incorporates the use of tailored nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) dosing and a comprehensive evaluation component.

The goal of "Put It Out Rockland" and the entire tobacco control program has been to promote quitting among youth and adults and to reduce the adult smoking rate to 12 percent by 2010.

The results of the first year of the "Put It Out Rockland" adult quit smoking program have been impressive. In Year I, the health department reached nearly 300 smokers, with an average end-of-treatment quit rate of 86 percent. As staff followed these smokers from the end of treatment and found a 3-month quit rate of 61 percent, a 6-month quit rate of 44 percent and 12-month quit rate of 42 percent. In Year II, the health department expanded the program to include the use of combination NRT therapy and translated the program to reach Spanish-speaking smokers. As the health department continues to modify the program and keep abreast of emerging research, staff expect to maintain and improve quit rates.