A record number of people have quit smoking in the first week of the New Year, according to Quitline.
Young woman smoking a cigarette
The national stop-smoking support service said more than 2400 people have given up the habit using its services at the start of 2012 – a 5% rise on last year.
Of the 2422 people who contacted Quitline, 509 said they were Maori and 133 said they were people of Pacific Island origin.
“This is particularly pleasing given the high number of smokers among these populations,” said Quitline marketing manager Bruce Bassett.
Quitline research found that most people decided to give up smoking for family or health reasons, however the recent tobacco price hike has also provided another reason to quit.
“Tobacco products have risen by more than the 10% tax increase, and this has been a shock to a lot of people,” said Bassett.
The cost of a pack of 20 cigarettes has increased by about $2 (from $12.60 to $14.40 or from $14.40 to $16.50) and 30g of loose tobacco by around $4.50 (from $26.50 to $31 or from $27 to $31.50), said Bassett.
In January 2011, when the second of the three tiered increases on tobacco tax came into effect, 9383 people quit smoking with the help of Quitline – almost double the number who used the service in January 2010.
Quitline said that those that use its support services are five times more likely to succeed in quitting smoking than those going it alone. It also found that 80% of smokers wished they had never started smoking.
