Taking up state slack on helping smokers

This week, more than 50 of North Carolina’s leading patient groups, health care systems and nonprofits will launch “Race to Quit, NC” – a campaign dedicated to connecting tobacco users with the help they need to cross the finish line to a smoke-free life.

With broad support from some of the biggest health care leaders in our state, Race to Quit, NC is the latest effort seeking to fill a void left by state policymakers, who have slashed smoking cessation budgets in recent years despite the fact that North Carolina is still tangled in the web of tobacco addiction.

The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 1 in 5 adults in North Carolina is a smoker, while 13 percent of high school students smoke. Those numbers are well above the national average. In fact, we rank 12th among states with the highest concentration of smokers, and the habit kills 14,200 North Carolinians each year.

The reality is that most tobacco users likely want to quit but aren’t getting the help they need. In fact, Gallup polling finds that a full 85 percent of smokers have tried to give it up and failed, while data from the American Cancer Society show that only 7 percent of people are able to quit smoking on any given attempt without medicines or other help.

Pair this knowledge with the fact that the state’s quit-smoking programs are perpetually underfunded and unfunded, and a clearer picture emerges of why North Carolina can’t seem to rake the golden leaf.

Tobacco use is the No. 1 cause of death and disease in North Carolina, but in recent years it has failed to rank among our state’s policy priorities. The 429-page state budget signed by Gov. Pat McCrory contains just one line item dedicated to helping North Carolinians quit smoking. It designates $1.2 million for QuitlineNC, which provides all North Carolinians with free tobacco-cessation counseling, tools and other services, and supports employers, family members and friends in helping others quit.

1 percent of recommendation

But at this funding level – which is just 1 percent of the CDC-recommended amount and less than 1 percent of the $140 million the state will get this year from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with tobacco companies – QuitLineNC can reach only 1 percent of North Carolina tobacco users.

QuitLineNC is now the state’s lone public smoking cessation resource, as legislators zeroed-out all other tobacco control and prevention programs in 2013. Even youth tobacco-prevention programs such as “Tobacco. Reality. Unflitered.,” a nationally recognized teen prevention campaign that served as a model for other states, were cut.

While we wait for legislators to once again make smoking cessation a public health priority, North Carolinians still need to know that support is there to help them quit.

There is counseling to manage triggers and stress (some of the major causes of relapse), new treatments and innovative ways to use existing medications, and more. And thanks to new recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, these resources will soon be covered at no cost through most health insurance plans.

If you’re a smoker who wants to quit or you love someone who wants to quit, the first step is to talk to a doctor. Legislators may be sitting out the race to quit, but you can still get the help you need to win it.

This story was originally published October 5, 2015 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Taking up state slack on helping smokers."