The next series of Cooper/Clayton Method smoking cessation classes will begin on Wednesday, September 2, in the conference facilities of Dearborn County Hospital.  Classes are scheduled from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. for 13 weeks.

Anyone wishing to quit smoking may attend the classes, which are offered free of charge.  Leading the group will be Tony Escamilla, R.C.P., a Respiratory Care Practitioner who is himself a graduate of the Cooper/Clayton Method.

Citizens Against Substance Abuse (CASA) is presenting the Cooper/Clayton classes.   Funding is provided by the Dearborn County Hospital Auxiliary, which has contributed $6,500 to pay for classes for the 2008 and 2009 calendar years.

The Cooper/Clayton Method was named after Thomas Cooper, D.D.S., and Richard Clayton, Ph.D., who founded the program in 1985.  Dr. Cooper, a retired professor of dentistry from the University of Kentucky, quit smoking after three decades of cigarette use by utilizing the program they had devised.  Dr. Clayton is a sociologist and a professor at the University of Kentucky.  He is also Chairman of the Tobacco Etiology Research Network (TERN), a group of scientists studying tobacco use and nicotine dependence.

Their method of quitting was patented in 1991.  The program offers participants a choice of programs using nicotine gum, patches or other aids, along with group support, behavior modification and decreasing use of tobacco.  Although the classes are free, smoking cessation products are not provided for the class.  Some insurance plans may cover the cost of smoking cessation products.

For more information or to register, please call Donna Thacker, Executive Director of CASA in Dearborn County, at (812) 532-3538.  Participants may register in advance or on the first night of class.