Back in April, New Orleans banned smoking throughout much of the city. On July 1, 2015, Louisiana’s statewide cigarette tax rose by fifty cents. Mike Rogers, CEO of the Smoking Cessation Trust, thinks that’s driving more Louisianians to drop the habit.
"The Trust," explains Rogers, "is a program created from a class action suit that was adjudicated against the tobacco industry back in 2002." A Louisiana court ruled against the tobacco industry in the case Scott v. American Tobacco Company. As a result, the tobacco industry was ordered to fund a ten-year smoking cessation program for the state, the Smoking Cessation Trust.
The Trust works with partners around the state to provide quit-line support, counseling and medication to Louisianians who started smoking before September 1, 1988. The Trust is there to cover the costs. "You don’t have to come out of pocket for any of that stuff," says Rogers.
Louisiana isn’t the only state to offer a smoking cessation program, but it is the only one funded by the court. Essentially, the tobacco industry is paying to help people quit smoking in Louisiana.
As of right now, 35,000 people have applied for the program throughout the state, and every parish has members.
This past June, the Trust had its highest ever monthly enrollment. "For the first time ever, we went above 2,000 new members in one month," says Rogers. To explain the increased enrollment, Rogers points to the higher cigarette tax, "which came on the heels of New Orleans passing the smoking ban."
Average monthly enrollment is about 1,600.
Ochsner is one of the provider partners. That’s where Heather St. Germain is a Tobacco Cessation Specialist and Counselor. She says the higher cigarette tax is driving many to join the program. 'They just can’t continue to afford to pay for cigarettes anymore and in the long run it’s just going to be less expensive for them to quit smoking," she explains.
Lindsey White, Tobacco Cessation Director for Ochsner Clinics, says the impact could be far reaching, especially in a state where just over twenty percent of the population smokes. And with Louisiana having some of the highest obesity and heart disease rates, she says, "tobacco plays such a huge role in whether or not they can be successful getting their diabetes under control, or even tackling their heart disease or obesity."