City of Hamilton Public Health Services is partnering with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health to offer smokers a 10-week supply of free nicotine replacement therapy to help them quit smoking, as part of the Stop Smoking Therapy for Ontario Patients (STOP) study. The nicotine replacement products will include the nicotine patch, gum or the inhaler.

To receive the free nicotine replacement products, smokers will need to attend an information session and agree to be part of the province-wide STOP study. Interested smokers should call the City of Hamilton Tobacco Hotline at (905) 540-5566 and press "1" to see if they qualify for the study and to register for an information session.

The deadline for registration is Dec. 17. Information sessions will be held Wednesday, Dec. 19, where participants will learn about quitting smoking and pick up the free supply of nicotine replacement therapy.

"Studies have shown that using nicotine replacement therapy can double a person's chances of quitting smoking successfully," says Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, medical officer of health for the City of Hamilton.

Using nicotine replacement therapy can help reduce the withdrawal symptoms people may experience when they quit smoking. The goal of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of different methods of nicotine replacement therapy to Ontario smokers.