The Cleveland Clinic estimates just over 3,000 people succeeded in kicking the smoking habit with help from the Ohio Tobacco Quite Line and free nicotine patches. In total, just over 7,000 people sought help, but only 23 percent are still smoke free. The Clinic's Dr. Michael O'Donnell says this year's tax increase on cigarettes, the State ban on smoking in public places and free local advertisings created a "perfect storm" in Cuyahoga Country that overwhelmed the state's quit line.
Michael O'Donnell: The volume was so great in Cuyahoga County that they stopped advertising in the rest of the state so they could give good service to people in Cuyahoga County. This allowed us to see what was the impact of this campaign.
O'Donnell says the calls to the quite line from January until June, when residents could receive free nicotine patches and counseling, increased 103 percent in Cuyahoga County. In the rest of the state, he says, call volume dropped by 20 percent. Free counseling is still available, but the nicotine patch subsidy has been cut in half.
Lisa Ann Pinkerton, 90.3.