Break your smoking habit with tobacco quit line Published Aug. 3, 2009 By Karen LeRoy Wilford Hall Medical Center LACKLAND AFB, TEXAS -- Smokers who want to break the habit may benefit from a smoking cessation research study and program conducted at Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland AFB. The study is the SAMMC (San Antonio Military Medical Center) Smoking Quit Line. There are no classes to attend, because all of the smoking cessation counseling is over the telephone. The research study is open to active-duty members, reservists, retirees and military family members. Participation can take place from anywhere by calling a toll-free quit line number. Free nicotine patches are mailed to each participant's mailing address. The study is a collaboration between the University of Tennessee Health Science Center at Memphis and Wilford Hall Medical Center, funded by a $3.6 million dollar grant from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Bob Klesges, a researcher at UTHSC at Memphis, serves as the principal investigator for the study. This project marks the third research collaboration for UTHSC and WHMC on tobacco cessation. Quit lines offer both convenience and flexibility. They are ideal for a person who cannot attend a traditional classroom-based tobacco cessation program. Potentially, a participant can call from home, work, or while deployed to Iraq. The study will offer two types of quit lines. One is called "Counselor Initiated," where the counselor will schedule an appointment with the participant and call them for their counseling session. The other is "Self Paced," where the individual participant calls the quit line for each of their counseling sessions. Enrollment for the program is currently open. For more information, call 1-877-SAMMC-11 (1-877-726-6211) or visit www.sammcquitline.org.