Iowa snuffs out free NRTs
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Budget cuts force the Iowa Department of Public Health to stop dispensing free nicotine-replacement therapies, including patches and gum, to Quitline Iowa callers. The helpline for quitting tobacco use has taken calls from about 54,300 people since 2008, and about 27,450 of those callers have taken the offer of free NRTs, IDPH said June 1. Other states have faced budgetary pressures on their own helplines; a 2009 increase in the federal cigarette tax helped drive a surge in quit attempts, depleting Michigan's annual quit line funds (1"The Tan Sheet" April 6, 2009)