Smokers calling Tobacco Quit Line in record numbers... ... and quitting in record numbers, too
January 24, 2005
Montanans are calling the state Tobacco Quit Line in record numbers this month, apparently to avoid paying a tax increase on cigarettes and to improve their health and quality of life, according to Georgiana Gulden, supervisor of the Tobacco Use Prevention Section of the state Department of Public Health and Human Services.
Between January 1 and 20, more than 2,080 smokers called the Quit Line seeking help, Gulden said. That compares to an average of 380 calls a month last year. She speculated that many callers are hoping to give up the habit rather than pay an additional $1 a pack tax that state voters imposed with the passage of Initiative 149 last November. The tax increase went into effect Jan. 1. She noted that some callers may also have made a New Year's resolution to improve their health.
"Fortunately for them, the Quit Line is there to help them," she said. "Research has shown that tobacco quit line counseling works. It's a key component in our strategy to save lives and money."
Cindy Haugland, of the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, said the numbers of Montanans using the Quit Line is "phenomenal."
"We had only projected getting 2,700 calls for the entire year," she said.
National Jewish, which operates the Quit Line for the state, is ranked as the nation's top respiratory hospital by U.S. News & World Report.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only 2.5 percent of Americans who try to quit using tobacco are successful. But according to Haugland, figures gathered by National Jewish show that people who call the Montana Tobacco Quit Line have a quit rate of more than 25 percent at the time they complete their counseling program.
The data also show that 43 percent of those who call the Quit Line do so because they were prompted by advertising in the media. Physician referrals accounted for 18 percent of the calls, and friends and family persuaded 12 percent of the smokers to call. The rest of the calls were not categorized.
"We have a program in place that's working," says Richard Sargent, MD, a leading tobacco control advocate in Montana and vice chairman of the Montana Tobacco Advisory board. "Quit lines are a critical part of a three-part strategy to help people stop smoking and prevent others from starting."
Sargent said that prevention and cessation must work together.
"There is a three-legged stool in prevention: increased tobacco taxes, a comprehensive tobacco use prevention program, and smoke free air," he said. "Cessation, and hence the Quit Line, is one component of a comprehensive tobacco use prevention program."
"People who stop smoking can really improve their health and the health of family members," according to Gulden. "They can also help the family budget." A pack-a-day smoker or a two-can-a-day chewer can save up to $1,500 to $2,000 a year by quitting now, she said.
The CDC estimates that tobacco use, in the aggregate, costs Montana about $216 million each year in direct medical costs. In addition, lost productivity costs the state an estimated $247 million.
The toll-free Quit Line offers free counseling, self-help materials, nicotine replacement therapy (as appropriate) and other services geared to help tobacco users achieve success in giving up their habit. Montanans can contact the Quit Line by calling 1-866-485-QUIT (1-866-485-7848). Hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, and 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Counselors answer calls every day of the year except Christmas and Thanksgiving.
The Quit Line is funded by approximately $1 million from a state special revenue account that receives Master Settlement Agreement dollars. These stem from a 1998 agreement between the attorneys general of 46 states and the tobacco industry.
Page last updated: 06/15/2006
