Tobacco Prevention News

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Tips From Former Smokers campaign returns this month with powerful ads encouraging people who smoke to quit. Now in its 12th year, the Tips campaign is the nation’s first federally funded national tobacco education campaign. From 2012-2018, Tips motivated more than 1 million U.S. adults to quit smoking, inspired millions more to try to quit, and may have helped those who have quit to not start again.

The Tips campaign features real people from different backgrounds, sharing the impact smoking has had on their lives - and the lives of their loved ones - through hard-hitting stories and visuals. The message these stories send is urgent: Now is the time to quit smoking, and free help is available. This year’s Tips campaign ads will run from March 6 through Sept. 24 on national cable and network television, and on digital video, display, search, and social platforms.

“For more than a decade, the Tips campaign has shown the challenges real people face every day as a result of smoking in a way that statistics cannot,” said Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, PhD, MPH, Director of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health. “The campaign has already motivated millions of Americans to quit smoking, and we’re glad to be back on-air to help even more people quit by continuing to share the personal stories from the brave Tips participants.”

The Tips campaign promotes free quit smoking services available through 800-QUIT-NOW. The phone number connects Montana residents directly to the Montana Tobacco Quit Line, which offers free counseling with a certified quit coach, free nicotine replacement therapy (patches, gum or lozenges) or quit medications to those who enroll and complete their first coaching session, and a personalized quit plan.

Montanans who use the Quit Line are 7 to 10 times more likely to successfully quit than those who try quitting on their own without the help of medications.

The Montana Tobacco Quit Line also offers individualized programs for pregnant women who want to quit for their own health and the health of their baby, youth who need help quitting e-cigarettes and other forms of tobacco product use, American Indians who want to connect with a culturally sensitive American Indian coach, and individuals with behavioral health conditions who need extra support.

In Montana, 1,600 residents die every year from smoking-related diseases. A 2021 study showed that from 2012–2018, the Tips campaign helped prevent an estimated 129,000 early deaths and helped save an estimated $7.3 billion in smoking-related healthcare costs.

“CDC’s Tips campaign has helped increase awareness of quit smoking resources and helped people who smoke to quit throughout Montana,” A.J. Allen, Roosevelt County tobacco education specialist, said. “As a tobacco education specialist, I see the devastating health impacts caused or made worse by smoking and secondhand smoke. The Montana Tobacco Quit Line is committed to connecting Montanans who smoke and want to quit with the free help, support, and resources they need to be successful.”

For more information about these resources, call or visit the following websites: Montana Tobacco Quit Line: 1-800-QUIT-NOW or QuitNowMontana.com American Indian Commercial Tobacco Quit Line: 1-855-5AI-QUIT or MTAmercianIndianQuitLine. com My Life, My Quit (Under 18): 1-855-891-9989 or MyLife-MyQuit.com