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2000 Program Report
Oregon Smokers Want to Quit
Almost 500,000 Oregonians smoke. Three-fourths of these people want to quit, and about a third try to quit every year. Yet it is difficult to overcome nicotine addiction. Communities help people quit by providing smokefree environments, education, information and easy access to support services.
DELIVERING RESULTS
Oregon's investment in tobacco prevention is paying off. Since 1996:
- 75,000 fewer Oregon adult smokers.
- 1 billion fewer cigarettes sold every year.
- 1,300 fewer women smoked while pregnant.
- 15,000 calls into the statewide Oregon Tobacco Quit Line.
- Over 25% of smokers are now planning to quit in the next 30 days, a 14 percent increase.
- An estimated 1,200 lives and $300 million saved annually in Oregon's future for every year we maintain the program's success.
DECLINING CONSUMPTION
 Doing What Works
1. HELP WITH QUITTING
The Oregon Tobacco Quit Line : Toll-Free Statewide Telephone-Based Assistance. We have established and proven the effectiveness of the Oregon Tobacco Quit Line (OQL). Over 15,000 people have called for help. One-third of tobacco users who call the OQL quit for 30 days or more during the next six-month period. OQL (1-877- 270-STOP) provides the tobacco user with personalized, individually- tailored advice and help. A caller with no medical insurance is enrolled in a comprehensive 12 month phone-based support program that includes nicotine replacement therapy.
Partnering With The Health Care System. Nicotine addiction is most effectively treated as part of routine medical care, through the clinic visit. A cessation program that combines behavioral and pharmacological help is the "gold standard" for cost-effective medical interventions. Because of this, the program works with private and public medical care providers to develop cessation program purchasing guidelines for insurers. Now more than 50 percent of smokers are told by their physician to quit, and about one-third used nicotine replacement therapy when they tried to quit. Because of this, their chances of success were far greater.
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ADULT
TOBACCO USE
DECLINE
Oregon's decline in
adult tobacco use
is about triple
the national decline. |
2. EFFECTIVE MEDIA MESSAGES
With our media campaign Oregonians hear that nicotine is addictive, that tobacco and secondhand smoke kills both the user and those around them, that there is help to quit, and how to get help. Messages from the statewide media campaign were seen three or more times by 96 percent of Oregonians.
3. CREATING SMOKEFREE ENVIRONMENTS
We've made tremendous strides. Although there are 75,000 fewer smokers, there still remain almost 500,000 Oregonians who smoke. Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death. Secondhand smoke exposure is still a reality for many Oregonians. Smokefree workplaces are associated with higher rates of quitting smoking. Because of this, local tobacco-free coalitions worked actively with employers to encourage them to become smokefree, and with policymakers to identify and enact community standards. This way, when people are ready to quit, they have a supportive workplace environment for quitting and staying quit.
4. INNOVATIVE APPROACHES
A new computer-based youth cessation service has been developed to help youth quit chewing tobacco. Every school in Oregon will receive this new service.
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Neva Johnson has not smoked a cigarette since she called the Oregon Tobacco Quit Line. She had been smoking for 28 years, since she was 14. The years of smoking left her out of breath, to the point that she couldn't walk like she wanted. After seeing a Oregon Tobacco Quit Line television ad, she picked up the phone, called, and reached a cessation specialist who talked with her for an hour. He answered all her questions and made it sound easy, giving her steps to follow and the confidence to do it.
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