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David Stanley Ford

Oklahoma smokers light up switchboard
As call volume increases with tax hike, state’s tobacco hot line is there to help

BY SUSAN SIMPSON    Comments Comment on this article23
Published: May 1, 2009
Modified: May 18, 2009 at 1:25 pm

Jackie Manes smoked for three decades but quit on a promise. He’d give up cigarettes if his dying father starting eating again.

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HOW TO GET HELP
For free cessation help, call the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline at (800) 784-8669.

The Tahlequah man has been smoke-free for seven weeks and vows to stay that way, even though his father died this week.

Manes is among thousands who have called the state’s cessation hot line in recent months. Call volume has skyrocketed since the federal tobacco tax increase last month.

Manes, 51, said he’s glad to have more money in his pocket now, but that’s not why he quit smoking more than a pack a day.

"I prayed with my daddy on it. ‘You eat and I’ll quit,’” he said. "He’s in heaven now and he’s looking down at me. He’s going to hit me with a lightning bolt if I start again.”

He said he was helped greatly by calling the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust’s cessation help line. Counselors called Manes back several times to offer encouragement and advice. He tried a nicotine patch for a few weeks and now puts a straw in his mouth when he wants to smoke.

Tracey Strader, executive director of the trust, said more than 7,000 people called the help line in March, many because they wanted to quit before the tax took effect. Then 6,000 called in April. Normally, only a few hundred people call each month.

Call of duty
The help line is answered by a call center in Seattle. The Oklahoma trust partnered with a company that specializes in counseling by tobacco addiction experts. The trust pays based on call volume, averaging about $150 per participant and including the cost of nicotine patches or gum. The service is free to callers.

More than 30,000 Oklahomans have joined the program this fiscal year, which ends June 30, for a cost of about $5 million. Thirty to 40 percent of people who seek the cessation help are successful at quitting, Strader said. That’s much greater than cold-turkey methods.

"I tell people about the program,” Manes said. "There’s help out there, and there are people that will back you up.”

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David Stanley Ford


Related Topics: Science and Technology, Technology, Health and Fitness, Medicine, Smoking, Medical Technology, Medical Devices, Health Care Issues


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Tracey, Oklahoma, "Counselors called Manes back several times to offer encouragement and advice". Is this not a requirement for the program? You MUST come back to counsel others in quitting..If so, why?
Sallie, Del City - May 8, 2009 at 5:58 am
It would be nice if the Food and Drug Administration stopped issuing warnings about toxic substances and just gave me the names of one or two things still safe to eat
Meth Addiction
http://www.crystalrecovery.com
catus, jackson - May 8, 2009 at 3:49 am
Hey, since alcohol-related car wrecks are the leading cause of deaths of teenagers, we can add taxes on alcohol, cars, AND teenagers, and set up hot lines(in Seattle) for drunken teenagers who want to drive, with free prescriptions for whatever drug is being currently promoted as curing alcoholism.
Kevin, Oklahoma City - May 1, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Phyllis, You are right nad yes I smoke but not in my house are around others. If people who dont smoke come around me when I"am out smoking so be It. I didnot ask them to.And I willnot put It out just because they come around where I"am at.
Mike, Norman - May 1, 2009 at 3:13 pm
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Tracey the majority people who smoke probably started after 1963 when the Surgeon General warnings were issued. If you are an adult and over the age of 18 do what you want with your body. A lot of things that are blamed on smoking could be caused by other things. And a lot of people who smoked and died from smoking did not have families who were happy to sue, this country has become that no one is responsible or accountable for their actions. And obesity in Oklahoma is outrageous so are you going to start taxing all the food at a higher rate?
Phyllis, Stigler - May 1, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Tracey, as far as sheer numbers of people 'helped,' its quite a simple thing to skew statistics in one's favor to justify grants and other funding sources. So, according to your logic, we should shut down local suicide hot lines to save money by contracting out to other areas with more experience with suicide? I couldn't really give a flip less about what Seattle does or does not do.
Kevin, Oklahoma City - May 1, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Phil,only reason they say smoking is the cause is thats just what theyve been told and what they here. If they look into the other things like they do smoking they wouldnt believe what would come out of it.
Mike, Norman - May 1, 2009 at 2:30 pm
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I agree with Mike. Obesity is a much worse problem, health-wise than smoking ever was, despite what all the propaganda preaches. This is an example of a quote from Adolph Hitler: ""Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it”, and Americans have bought it hook, line and sinker. Fast food, alcohol, vehicle fuel, lawn mowers and even charcoal grills are at good places to raise taxes 'for health'. Each one is equal to or worse in regard to health matters than smoking. Americans are hypocritical if nothing else.
Phil, Yukon - May 1, 2009 at 2:08 pm
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Tracey,
Thank you so much for your kind comments. You sound very sincere in helping people quit such a nasty unhealthy habit. Some of the people that are so negative on these comment forums are just the typical losers that will never be able to quit a bad habit even if they had divine help.
Troy, Norman - May 1, 2009 at 1:39 pm
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It isn't a lack of faith in the professional workforce in Oklahoma. It's the economies of scale gained when 15 or 20 other states and numerous commercial businesses are using the same vendor - increased capacity at less cost (and still in the U.S., not overseas). Creating a Helpline in Oklahoma would mean our state would bear the entire burden of cost, services provided would cost more, and fewer people would be served. Do you imagine the people involved in making these decisions never considered these things or weighed the options? The Seattle organization has actually been exploring the feasibility of opening a call center in Oklahoma and hiring Oklahoma workers as their business expands and they find a need for a center in the Central Time Zone. It may take some time but may well be a reality in the near future. Alcohol and obesity ARE serious concerns. But we need to keep in mind that tobacco use kills more people in Oklahoma than those killed by alcohol, illegal drugs, suicides, homicides, and car crashes, COMBINED. We have a lot of work to do to make Oklahoma a healthier place to live, but starting with our states LEADING cause of preventable death - tobacco - seems the most reasonable place to start.
Tracey, Oklahoma City - May 1, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Apparently, those in charge here in Okie Land have no faith in our professional work force. If we don't, in fact, have the professional abilities required for this close to home, this is because mental health services in Okie Land have been chronically underfunded for decades, as evidenced by the disproportionate numbers of mentally ill now held in Oklahoma jails and prisons. I agree, Earl and Mike. Alcohol use and overeating are as valid of health concerns as tobacco use. Let's add additional taxes to booze and fast food! Oh, wait, that would affect revenues from the Ford Center and Bricktown! Now, if we could only figure out how to tax marijuana, meth, and sex outside of marriage...
Kevin, Oklahoma City - May 1, 2009 at 12:36 pm
They need a OVERWEIGHT hotline worse than This
Mike, Norman - May 1, 2009 at 12:11 pm
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The money was for Oklahoma and needed to stay in OK. They had the money and the resources could have been developed. As Kevin stated I think we still have some qualified people here in OK who could have handled and needed the jobs. Everdently our lawmakers didn't.
rick, OKC - May 1, 2009 at 11:35 am
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Ace W., right on! Kevin too! Let's use our legislators' logic and put exorbitant taxes on liquor and see if it reduces alcoholism.
Earl, Oklahoma City - May 1, 2009 at 11:01 am
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Maybe it was a trade for THunder.
Robert, ok - May 1, 2009 at 10:19 am
The call Center being in Seattle was the result of a competitive bid process. There are three top vendors in the U.S. and the one used by Oklahoma is one of those three. None are in Oklahoma. In order to have counselors available nearly 24 hours a day 7 days a week, ready to respond to high call volumes (like around the federal tax), and to have a vendor capable of sending patches or gum through mail order, provide services in several languages (including American Sign Language), and have a robust telephone/web interface, it is necessary to find the best vendor available. Certainly if such a thing was available in Oklahoma, that would be the preference. But would you rather have limited services available only certain hours or certain days, potentially get busy signals when you call in, maybe be placed on a waiting list, or have other complications in getting your services - or would you prefer to get service, in the moment, and of the highest quality when you're ready to quit? It is a mistake to assume that there is corruption or other ill intent involved. A better assumption is that there are good people trying to get help to other good people in our state and sometimes tough choices have to be made.
Tracey, Oklahoma City - May 1, 2009 at 10:16 am
Right on Kevin, I was wondering the same thing.
rick, OKC - May 1, 2009 at 9:43 am
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A call center in Seattle? I dunno, I'm pretty sure that despite being #50 out of 50 states in funding for mental health that we still have some qualified counselors left in Okie Land. I wonder which of our esteemed politicians is getting a kickback out of contracting with the 'call center in Seattle'?
Kevin, Oklahoma City - May 1, 2009 at 9:41 am
The increase of the cigarett tax and the tobacco settlement money was suppose to be for Oklahoma. Why is part of the money going to the call center in Seattle? Now us raise the the tax on a pint of liquor by $5.00 and get in to the lawmakers pockets.
rick, OKC - May 1, 2009 at 9:39 am
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Bobby - please do call them back right away. The call volumes are down now and they should be able to get you right in to a quit coach. Sometimes the reason there is no call back is that they've got a wrong number or there is some other miscommunication. Please give them another try. Congratulations on your decision to quit tobacco!!
Tracey, Oklahoma City - May 1, 2009 at 9:38 am
I called the helpline a couple of weeks ago, but I have yet to get a call back from my "counselor". So far, I've just talked to the enrollment lady (once). She said they had a high volume of requests. Also, she said she could not guarantee that I would get coupons for gum, which is what I really wanted out of the deal since I am broke. I figured, what the hey, go ahead and give me a counselor because I really want to quit. No call back, no gum, nada. I am disappointed. The state got a LOT of money from the settlement but it does not seem to be getting put to use. Technically, I am one of the people enrolled in this program, and they can tout the numbers, but they haven't done a thing for me. I suspect I'm not the only one.
bobby - May 1, 2009 at 8:38 am
Do the people on the helpline smoke? I noticed that in our County Health Department the personnel give out brochures and advice on how to stop smoking and break the addiction and then exit a side/back door to have a smoke break themselves. Obviously they know all the dangers and drawbacks yet remain addicted. If they need help, where do they turn? They are the help! I smoked for 37 years. Tried dozens of times to quit, tried all kinds of programs. One day, the doctor used a single word, 'emphysematic," to describe the condition of my lungs; he found a chemical agent to help me get through the first eight weeks, and I had a good support system. Tobacco-free now for 16 years. The second best part? I got to meet my only grandson. The best part? I can outlast his energy level at the playground. Well, some days anyway. "Sometimes winners do quit and quitters do win."
Percy F., Ardmore - May 1, 2009 at 7:09 am
He’d give up cigarettes if his dying father starting eating again.


makes alot of sense. way to go editor!

even if you don't smoke, get the stuff and sell it on craigslist or ebay.
jeff, edmond - May 1, 2009 at 12:52 am
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