National Non-Smoking Week is set for January 20th to 26th and smokers are being encouraged to try and quit.

Prairie mountain Health has invested training and resources throughout the region over the past two years to support smokers who want to quit.

Jo-Anne Douglas is the Tobacco Dependence Counsellor for Prairie Mountain. “Smoking rates have been dropping but recently there has been an increase in the number of teenagers who smoke. We are alarmed with that and one thing that could be happening is a lot of kids are vaping even though it is illegal. They shouldn’t be getting a hold of those but they are and that’s a concern because it brings about a nicotine addiction.”

Weedless Wednesday is January 23rd and Douglas urges smokers to try and quit just for the one day because she says maybe it wont be as bad ass you think.

Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Alliance has started a Facebook page called The Quit Crowd.