CBS News – The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s “Tips From Former Smokers” ads are set to stop at the end of September.
For 13 years, these tough and honest commercials told real stories about the harm of smoking and pointed people to free help at 1-800-QUIT-NOW. When the ads ran, calls to the quitline jumped, according to independent scientific research institute RTI International. Many people tried to quit and some stuck with it.
One of them is Leslie Allison-Seei. She says she’s alive today because she called.
Leslie started coughing up blood in 2014 after smoking for over 40 years. She’d been having bleeding fits for two weeks before going to the hospital, some so severe that blood splattered across the bathroom walls and floor. It got so bad that at the ER, a nurse had to flush the toilet with the tip of her shoe, she told CBS News.
Her doctor ordered a lung scope, looked her in the eye and said: “You’re done smoking as of today.” The doctor gave her nicotine patches, a packet of information and the number for the smoking quitline.
Leslie said she quit the next day. She slipped once, 30 days in, after a fight with her husband.
The very next morning, her quitline coach, Lori, called to check in. Leslie told her what happened. Lori didn’t scold her.
“Start again,” she said. “And don’t keep cigarettes in the house. Make it take five minutes to go get them. Most urges pass by then.”
That simple tip worked for Leslie. Eleven and a half years later, she is still smoke-free.
Researchers have tracked the “Tips” campaign closely. When ads aired on TV or online, calls to 1-800-QUIT-NOW rose fast; when the ads stopped, calls dropped, RTI International found …
