University students have been given a great opportunity to quit smoking by Boynton Health Service. The Quit and Win program is offering students prizes if they can successfully go smoke-free during April. The contest is perfectly timed with Hennepin County bars and restaurants going smoke-free and is intended to help celebrate the new smoking ban.

The Quit and Win program is being snatched up by many University students for a chance to win a trip to Mexico and other prizes along with the chance to quit smoking for good. Boynton is giving entrants in the program a free supply of nicotine replacement, of their choice, in a few different forms. Nicotine replacements cost a lot of money, but the program is being sponsored by the Hennepin Medical Society, and no Student Services Fees are being used to supplement it.

The Quit and Win program’s greatest strength is offering an absolutely free start down the road to being smoke-free, but what happens when the contest is over?

Boynton will be at the sidelines cheering on the quitters during this month and handing out free nicotine therapy, but after the month is over, the entrants will have to rely on the support of their partner in the contest, a smoke-free friend. Boynton won’t be able to fund the entrants any longer, but at least they will have that support. Many students who chose to enter the program have friends who also entered, and they are doing what they can to help each other out along the journey, which will, hopefully, continue past April.

Above all else, the Quit and Win program is a refreshing and creative strategy to give students a reason to quit smoking. Some students who participate and finish the entire month without smoking will stay smoke-free, and some won’t. But at least some will see they can quit and might actually enjoy it. Others will realize how addicted they really are and that awareness is always a good motivation for further action toward other quitting strategies.