News Release 

TOMPKINS COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
Alice Cole, RN, MSE – Public Health Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Ted Schiele, 607-274-6712, tschiele@tompkins-co.org
Theresa Lyczko, 607-274-6714, tlyczko@Tompkins-co.org

May 30, 2008

With Cigarette Tax Hike, It’s a Great Time to Quit.

New Cigarette Tax Will Motivate Many Smokers to Quit; Community Support is Important

Tompkins Trust Company joins other locations to make information about quitting resources easy to get.

 
(ITHACA, NY) On June 3, the state excise tax on a pack of cigarettes will increase by $1.25 to a total $2.75 per pack. This is the largest single tobacco tax increase in state history and establishes NYS as having the highest state cigarette tax in the nation.

Price is the single most effective deterrent to youth initiation of smoking and a major motivator for adult smokers who want to quit, and public health officials statewide are going all out to help smokers decide that quitting for good is the best response to this price hike.

In Tompkins County, the T-Free Zone program is gearing up to help, so that smokers who are prompted to quit by the new, higher cost of cigarettes will know where to turn and have the best chance possible to quit successfully.

Smoking is a powerful addiction, and while many smokers are able to quit on their own, many others benefit from counseling and/or nicotine replacement treatments such as a patch or gum to quit for good. Both are available free for New York State residents from the New York State Smokers’ Quitline; call toll free, 1-866-NY-QUITS (1-866-697-8487.)

Through the T-Free Zone program, a network of Quit Support sites is being established to make the toll free number for the Quitline, along with tips for quitting, more easily accessible. Each of these sites will have a countertop Quit Support display with pamphlets that list the NYS Smokers’ Quitline number and Web site, numbers for two other regionally based cessation counseling services, and tips for making a plan to quit smoking. Additional details about the Quit Support pamphlet and display can also be found at http://www.tompkins-co.org/wellness/tobaccofree/quit/support-tearoff.htm.

The Quit Support network includes the all Tompkins County branches of the Tompkins Trust Company, the Tompkins County Public Library (101 E. Green St., Ithaca), the Tompkins County Health Department (401 Dates Dr., Ithaca), the Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes (612 W. State St., Ithaca), and Court Street Chiropractic (122 W. Court St., Ithaca). The Quit Support network will be officially active through the month of June.

In addition, throughout the County many doctors, dentists and nonprofit organizations have Quit Support pamphlets displayed at their offices.

“We have a unique window of opportunity in the weeks before and after the cigarette cost increase to help smokers quit,” said Ursula Bauer, Ph.D., Director of the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) Division of Chronic Disease Prevention and Adult Health, in remarks presented to a statewide tobacco control conference held in Albany, May 6-7, 2008. “We will come closer to our goal of 1 million fewer smokers by the year 2010 by implementing a statewide push to motivate smokers to quit, with activities and events that build momentum toward June 3 and familiarize smokers with safe nicotine products.”

Personal, phone-based counseling is available free from the NYS Smokers’ Quitline from 9:00 a.m. to midnight during weekdays, 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Saturdays and 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Sundays. Most smokers are eligible to receive a free starter kit of safe nicotine replacement treatments shipped directly to them from the Quitline.

Locally, the Quit Support network sites are intended as an easy-to-find resource location where individuals can get printed information about free cessation counseling and services.

The T-Free Zone program at the Tompkins County Health Department works to reduce the burden of tobacco use among Tompkins County residents and fight tobacco addiction by keeping the air smoke free, supporting smokers who want to quit, and helping teens beat the tobacco trap. Information about the program is available on the Web at www.tompkins-co.org/tobaccofree/.

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Source for remarks by Dr. Bauer:
NYSDOH > 2008 Press Releases > State Health Commissioner Addresses Anti-Smoking Advocates as June 3 Implementation of Tobacco Tax Increase Nears

Additional information about the excise tax increase:
New York can expect the $1.25 cigarette tax increase to prevent more than 243,000 New York kids alive today from smoking; spur 140,000 New York smokers to quit for good; save more than 37,000 New York residents from smoking?caused deaths; produce more than $5 billion in long?term health care savings; and raise about $436 million a year in new state revenue. (Source: Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.)

 

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