New FDA Campaign Focuses On Where Smokers Purchase Cigarettes

A new FDA campaign aims to encourage smokers to keep trying to quit and it’s coming to Indiana. The Hoosier state has one of the highest smoking rates in the country – at just over 21 percent.

Studies show that most smokers want to quit, and FDA Center for Tobacco Products Director Mitch Zeller says that’s the hinge of a new campaign.

“We want to celebrate the quit attempt itself because the evidence is clear, the more attempts you make to quit the more likely it is that you will succeed,” says Zeller.

Every Try Counts comes with a new website that links people to mobile apps, text messaging or telephone counseling. The supportive messaging will also be posted in places where Hoosiers buy cigarettes.

“In places like Madison County, Indiana, where there are lots of smokers who go into gas stations and convenience stores every day to buy their cigarettes,” says Zeller.

St. Vincent Health’s cessation program focuses on the provider and Kelly Peisker says they urge them to ask smokers about quitting more often.

“Because one of those time they are going to say ‘yes, I am ready for help,’” says Peisker.

Smoking cost the state nearly $3 billon a year in medical costs.