Crystal Mackay, Scheduling and Workflow Associate, Service Delivery:   The recent tax increase on tobacco products is causing many people to scramble for their phones in a rush to seek help in quitting.  According to USA Today, there has been a tidal wave of calls flooding tobacco quit lines since Wednesday, April 1st, the day the increase took effect.  Free & Clear’s 17 state quit lines alone were up 369% from the same day in 2008.  This poses the question: How can a hotline help me qu... [More]

Terry Bush, Research Scientist, Clinical Behavioral Sciences:   Reading the results of the study, “‘Real-World’ Effectiveness of Reactive Telephone Counseling for Smoking Cessation: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” one might mistakenly assume that the study showed that quit lines may not be cost effective.  However, the authors conclude that offering proactive calls (i.e. more counseling) may, as numerous studies have shown, prove to be the most cost-effective method for helping people q... [More]

Ken Wassum, Senior Product Manager, Tobacco:   Does the electronic cigarette, commonly called the E-cig, hold promise for a healthier alternative to smoked tobacco?  Or, is it potentially dangerous?  There is a lot of fuss about this product.  Some of it is justified and some of it is a little silly –well intentioned, but still silly. Those who support the E-cig say it provides a safe alternative to smoked tobacco, and they could be right.  They argue that since the product delive... [More]

Kristine Carabeo, Quit Coach, Service Delivery:   A recent report says that smokers should never use nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), which includes products like nicotine patches, gums, inhalants, lozenges and pills, or else they will never quit smoking. When first seeing that headline, I thought that maybe the article would encourage more people to quit cold turkey (no quit smoking aids or medications whatsoever), which is one of many methods that people can use to quit. But ... [More]

Allegra Wiborg, Quit Coach, Service Delivery:   Occasionally participants in our tobacco cessation program will tell me they don’t want to use the patch or nicotine gum to quit tobacco. Some have pretty strong feelings about it, too: “If I’m quitting nicotine—why would I want to add it to my body?! No thanks.” I can see where these participants are coming from. Isn’t that like pouring gasoline on the fire? I too was confused about how nicotine replacement therapy worked until I be... [More]