Health Officials Mark First Anniversary of State’s Smoking Ban

Today marks the one year anniversary of the state’s smoking ban in most public places, including restaurants.

Health officials who enforce the ban say it’s getting more calls than ever to its tobacco quit line, 1-800-Quit-Now. Assistant Health Commissioner Cathy Taylor:

“One of the really interesting things that we’ve experienced is about a 300-percent increase in the numbers of calls we received since the non-smoker protection act was enacted back in 2007.”

1-800-Quit-Now pairs a smoker who wants to quit with a “quit” coach for 12 months. So far this year, more than 11-thousand people have called the quit line. Taylor hopes to double that number next year.

“About a quarter of Tennesseans continue to smoke, but about 70-percent of that number express a desire to quit.”

Taylor says it can take up to 8-10 attempts before a smoker quits for good.

Last year’s law was one of two aimed at curbing smoking in Tennessee. In July, a 42-cent tax increase on a pack of cigarettes went into effect. Two months later, the smoking ban began.

For more information, call 1-800-Quit-Now.