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Impact of statewide
smoke-free air law on Quitline calls - 6/9/06
Q: We have a health reporter doing a story
on the possible impact that our new smoke free state law may
have on smokers using our Quitline. For those states with
a statewide law, please share your experiences regarding the
impact of implementation on Quitline calls - the more specific
in terms of numbers (e.g. an increase of X% after the 1st
week, 1st month, etc.), the better.
A:
- Alabama - AL has a rather weak state
law that was in effect before we launched our Quitline,
so we don't have any numbers to share about any possible
impact the state law could have had on the Quitline.
- New Jersey - Starting in January, our
phone service has been almost quadruple the service for
the same period in 2005. This has remained fairly constant
through May.
- Rhode Island - Rhode Island implemented
them statewide smoke-free law in March 2005. Education materials
about the law and promoting the Quitline were mailed to
44,000 businesses in December 2004. We also conducted a
targeted media campaign promoting the Quitline in January-April
2005. Calls to the Quitline in January 2005 were 209. In
February calls increased by 81%(1080 calls) and March 2005
by 82%(1133). The demand taxed our Quitline capacity. Lesson
learned include: a sustained media campaign and careful
monitoring of Quitline capacity. If you have any questions,
please contact Donna Levesque at 401-222-3059.
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