May 12, 2008

Project Filter Asks Smokers: “Tell Us” How to Help You Quit Smoking

The number of Idaho adults who smoke dropped a full percentage point to 16.8 percent between 2005 and 2006, and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s “Project Filter – Idaho Fights Tobacco” is asking for the public’s help to keep up the momentum.

Got an idea about how to get more Idahoans to kick the nicotine habit? Log on to the Project Filter web site and leave a suggestion. Participants are eligible for prizes and the best ideas could be used in future anti-tobacco campaigns.

“There are many Idahoans struggling to quit,” says Health and Welfare Tobacco Control Program Manager Jack Miller. “We’ve already implemented many successful strategies to help smokers kick the nicotine habit, but we know there is more we can be doing. The smoking rates in a lot of states have plateaued. We don’t want that to happen in Idaho.”

The Project Filter campaign is complemented by a series of ads airing on local television stations and posted online that depict a group brainstorming what else can be done to convince people to quit. At the end of the ad, viewers are invited to “Tell Us” what the next steps in fighting tobacco should be. The ad dramatizes the real discussion Miller and his colleagues had about how to convince those who now smoke to quit.

“Eighty-three percent of Idaho smokers report trying to quit at least once,” says Miller. “Quitting isn’t easy, especially at a time when tobacco companies have stepped up marketing efforts to counter successful anti-tobacco campaigns and the growing restrictions on where smoking is allowed.”

Tobacco companies spend $57.8 million each year marketing their products to Idahoans. Tobacco use takes a heavy toll on the health and pocketbooks of Idahoans. Everyday, four Idaho residents die from tobacco related illnesses. An estimated 14,000 Idaho high school students use tobacco products, and Idahoans pay over $300 million a year in healthcare costs to treat smoking related illnesses.

“We’re going to take a close look at the comments we get and seriously consider ways to implement those suggestions into our quit smoking program,” says Miller. “This is a chance for those who have ideas about how we might help people quit to have their say and make a difference.”

To view the “Tell Us” public service announcement and to leave a suggestion about how to combat tobacco use in Idaho, visit the Project Filter web site.