Quit centers feel the crush as smokers look to pack it in
Lucy Yongue has been smoking for 52 years, and knows for a fact she can’t quit on her own.
“I have come off crack cocaine, alcohol, diet pills, and lost 44 pounds on Weight Watchers, and I still can’t cut out the cigarettes,” said the 70-year-old home health aide from New Brunswick.
For help, Yongue recently tried the Tobacco Dependence Clinic at the UMDNJ School of Public Health in New Brunswick, one of New Jersey’s seven state-funded “quit centers.” She is among a flood of new clients coming to the centers since April 1, when a federal tax earmarked for children’s health insurance raised the cost of a cigarette pack by 62 cents.
Funding for quit centers, however, has declined in recent years, and more cuts are slated for 2010. As the cost of cigarettes pushes more smokers to try quitting, some experts say the centers won’t be able to handle the demand.
“We used to have several clinicians treating patients face to face. Now we’re down to one. Our clinic coordinator has stacks of appointments,” said Michael Steinberg, medical director of the New Brunswick clinic. “We’re going to need to start turning people away.”
More than 9,200 clients have received free or low-cost counseling at state quit centers since 2001, according to the state Department of Health and Senior Services. Many of these clients struggle financially: In 2008, 25 percent earned less than $10,000, and Steinberg said some new clients have been hurt by the economy.
“We’re seeing many more people without jobs,” he said, explaining that such stress often triggers the urge to smoke. “There’s nothing more stressful than trying to put food on the table and pay the bills.”
For many clients, the federal levy brings the cost of cigarettes in New Jersey to a prohibitive level –$7-plus a pack.
“For most people, there’s a point at which they say, ‘I really can’t afford this anymore,’” said Fred Jacobs, former commissioner of the state health agency who is now the executive vice president of Saint Barnabas Health Care System. “But trying to stop on your own is notoriously unsuccessful.”
Since 2007, state funding for the seven quit centers has dropped from $864,000 to $756,000, according to the state Department of Health and Senior Services. The proposed 2010 budget calls for cuts of nearly $38,000 from the quit centers, and $50,000 from NJQuitline, a toll-free telephone service.
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