State snuffs out smokers quit line funding

SEATTLE -- The Washington-based tobacco quit line for uninsured smokers is the latest casualty in a string of cuts to state anti-tobacco initiatives, the Seattle Times reported.

Starting Aug. 1, Washington residents without health insurance will be limited to a single phone call to 1-800-QUIT-NOW.

The quit line, contracted to Seattle-based Alere Wellbeing, offers counseling and nicotine-replacement therapy to help people stop using tobacco. The $1.7 million the state spends on the service has been eliminated from the state budget, according to the Times. Ironically, it will still be available to residents in several other states.

Read more from the Times here.