MADISON, Wis. — The increase in Wisconsin cigarette prices and enhancements to the states tobacco quit line seem to be encouraging more people to attempt to kick the habit.
The Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services and the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention report that in the week after the tax on a pack of cigarettes increased by $1, the quit line offered by the groups received as many calls as it did in all of last year. About 9,000 people called the toll-free line during the first week of January, the department said, up from about 200 calls per week last year.