Calls to Quitline higher in 2000

Glens Falls Post Star Published on 2/10/2007
By DAVID IMAN II
diman@poststar.com

Smokers' hot line got 967 calls last year, up 51 percent from 2005

More than 900 times last year, smokers in Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties chose to pick up a phone instead of a cigarette. In 2006, the New York State Smokers' Quitline got 967 calls from smokers in those counties, a 51 percent increase from 2005, according to the Southern Adirondack Tobacco-Free Coalition. The Quitline, created by the state in 2001, provides live counseling, two weeks worth of nicotine patches, follow-up calls and other services for free.

Smokers in Saratoga County led the way by making 141 more calls to the Quitline in 2006 than in 2005, a 39 percent increase. Washington County had the largest percent increase, jumping from 89 calls in 2005 to 170 last year --
a 91 percent boost.

"It's pretty extraordinary," said Margaret LaFrance, coalition program coordinator. Smokers in Warren County made 57 more calls in 2006 than in 2005, a 64 percent increase.

Statewide, the Quitline received 178,000 calls last year, a 61 percent increase from 2005, according to the state. The spike in calls came as a marketing blitz was launched by the state and the coalition last year. Most of the promotional material -- cards and pamphlets -- as well as TV and radio advertisements sponsored by the coalition, mentioned the Quitline, LaFrance said.

In February of last year, the coalition launched a campaign to make smokers aware of how secondhand smoke harms pets. "Every single item we put out with that campaign had the Quitline number on it," LaFrance said. The Quitline can be reached at 1-866-NY-QUITS

( (866) 697-8487) from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekends.