Ken Wassum, Senior Product Manager, Tobacco:   The recent increase in the Federal Tobacco Tax (62 cents), coupled with a price hike by the tobacco industry, is causing a lot of smokers to ask for help in their effort to quit smoking. This is bad news to Big Tobacco. Steven Stanek in The National Newspaper quotes Maura Payne, a spokesperson for RJ Reynolds, as “vigorously opposed” to the tax hike because it “will disproportionately impact poorer families.” Hmm….this is a population... [More]

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]

Ken Wassum, Senior Product Manager   We have become somewhat numb to the fact that 440,000 Americans a year die from a preventable cause – cigarette smoking. That’s 1,200 deaths per day. Use whatever analogy you want -- 48 Amtrak accidents per day where 25 die, 3 fully loaded jumbo jets crashing daily with all lost – you name it. It is a lot of lives tragically lost. The U.S. is not alone in this loss of life. It happens world-wide, every day. A new report issued by the Royal Coll... [More]

Erin Lavery, Senior Supervisor, Service Delivery:   Sometimes, the last thing our participants want to hear from a helping professional is, “I know how you feel.” It makes them wonder if we really do. Even though many of us have quit in our past, we are separated from that moment by time and experience. In short, we may have a pretty good idea of where you are coming from, but we don’t know how you feel. This fact highlights an issue faced by many of our participants. Quitting tob... [More]