Our mission is simple: Decrease deaths, sickness and disability among New Jersey residents who use tobacco or are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke.

To achieve success, DHSS has outlined five clear goals:

• Decrease the acceptance of tobacco use among all people.
• Decrease the number of youths under 18 and young adults 18 t0 24 who start smoking.
• Increase the number of people who start treatment for nicotine addiction.
• Decrease exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.
• Reduce disparities related to tobacco use and effects among different population groups.

To meet the goals of the Comprehensive Tobacco Control Program, DHSS has developed six program areas:

Community Partnerships - Develops programs at the grassroots level that decrease the acceptability and initiation of tobacco use by youth and young adults, and increase the number of tobacco users who initiate treatment.

The Youth Program - Coordinates the efforts of anti-tobacco youth groups throughout New Jersey to prevent tobacco use by youth and young adults.

Treatment - Funds three different ways to help smokers quit smoking an end their nicotine addiction.

Enforcement - Promotes New Jersey's Tobacco Age of Sale laws to reduce exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and stop the sale of tobacco products to minors.

Measurement and Evaluation - Oversees development of baseline data and research to measure the effectiveness of New Jersey's CTCP.

Marketing and Communications - Oversees creative development and execution of advertising and public awareness campaigns promoting DHSS's tobacco control programs.

The Comprehensive Tobacco Control Program is doing what works. In just a short time, the program has:

Created the Communities Against Tobacco (CAT) coalitions in all 21 counties.

Funded a statewide quit-smoking help line in 26 languages called NJ Quitline -- 1-800-866-NJ-STOPS.

Instituted a quit-smoking web site customized for New Jersey residents called NJQuitnet -- www.nj.quitnet.com.

Funded 8 Quitcenters and supported a number of others around the state.

Outreached to over 10,000 youth through the REBEL (Reaching Everyone By Exposing Lies) program.

Developed an anti-tobacco youth web site, www.njrebel.com, which hosted 10,654 visitor sessions in its first four weeks.

Established a youth anti-tobacco advertising campaign exclusively for New Jersey teens titled "Not For Sale".

Established reliable baseline data to measure future progress and evaluate program success.