Many kinds of support are available to patients who want to quit tobacco. Alongside ongoing clinical monitoring, support and treatment, referring a patient to a quitline or another cessation resource improves their chances of quitting.
Free help to quit
| Help | How to reach it |
|---|---|
| Quitline, English | 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) |
| Quitline, Spanish | 1-855-DÉJELO-YA (1-855-335-3569) |
| Quitline, Mandarin and Cantonese | 1-800-838-8917 |
| Quitline, Korean | 1-800-556-5564 |
| Quitline, Vietnamese | 1-800-778-8440 |
| Text support (National Texting Portal) | text QUITNOW to 333888, or DÉJELOYA to 333888 in Spanish (message and data rates may apply) |
| Web | CDC's How to Quit Smoking and the National Cancer Institute's Smokefree.gov |
| App | the National Cancer Institute's quitSTART, with tips, information and games |
| Local programs | support groups or intensive counseling in your health system or community |
The Korean, Vietnamese and Mandarin/Cantonese lines are run by the Asian Smokers' Quitline.
What a quitline is
Quitlines are effective, evidence-based telephone services in all 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico and Guam. Calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW or 1-855-DÉJELO-YA transfers the caller automatically to their state's quitline. They offer counseling, practical advice on quitting, referrals, and self-help materials mailed to the caller. Services are:
- free and confidential;
- provided by highly trained counselors;
- tailored to each caller;
- available in several languages.
Quitlines help people get past barriers to treatment such as transportation, childcare, cost or distance, and many add web and text support. They also help family, friends and health professionals who want to help someone quit. Some state quitlines give free medications or vouchers and discounts; most have counseling and materials for groups such as pregnant women. They cover cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, hookah, e-cigarettes and other tobacco products.
Details for each state — services, languages, help for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, eligibility and funding — are on the NAQC Quitline Map.
Do they work?
Yes. The 2008 Public Health Service guideline, Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence, recommends them, and the 2020 Surgeon General's Report on Smoking Cessation concluded that proactive quitline counseling, alone or with medication, increases quitting. They're also cost-effective.
| Meta-analysis in the 2008 guideline | Six-month quit rate |
|---|---|
| Quitline counseling alone | 12.7% |
| Quitline counseling plus medication | 28.1% |
Both beat no intervention.
What happens when a patient calls
- A brief, confidential interview, usually about 10 minutes, treated as protected health information: current tobacco use, past quit attempts, how they heard of the quitline, and basic demographics. No citizenship documents are requested.
- An explanation of the services: self-help materials, local referrals, web or text help, and phone counseling.
- If the caller wants counseling, a transfer to a cessation counselor trained in motivational interviewing, who can build a personal quit plan, help with medication choices and use, and share ways to handle withdrawal, triggers and cravings. At busy times, the quitline schedules a call back.
Who's eligible
In most states, any resident. Many states ask that callers intend to quit within 30 days. Most serve adolescents, but the minimum age varies, and some states prioritize certain services for, for example, uninsured or Medicaid callers.
How to refer
- Use your state's referral system — by fax, email, web form or electronic health record — and the quitline calls your patient. Many quitlines report back on the patient's progress.
- Or give your patient 1-800-QUIT-NOW and encourage them to call themselves.
Either way, it helps to tell patients what to expect: that free phone help is available, that they'll be asked a few questions about themselves and their tobacco use, that a trained counselor will help them make a quit plan, and that everything is confidential. Patients can learn more at cdc.gov/quitline.
Funding
Most state quitline money comes from Master Settlement Agreement funds, general funds and tobacco taxes; some quitlines partner with insurers or employers to offer more to qualifying callers. See Quitline Administration and Financing.
More for clinicians: clinical cessation tools · patient materials · education and training · care settings.
Videos for providers
Quitlines can help your patients quit smoking. CDC.
Quitlines support patients who want to quit smoking. CDC.
Sources
Based on "Quitlines and Other Cessation Support Resources," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain. The videos, missing when the page was imported, are restored from the Internet Archive's copies of CDC's files (2026-09-27).
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.cdc.gov
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