s you know, Michigan's Tobacco Quit Line has been receiving an extremely high volume of calls since the Michigan Department of Community Health announced Wednesday that free nicotine replacement products are currently available through April 30 or while supplies last.

During a 24-hour period which started midnight Wednesday, the Quit Line received 21,000 calls. That truly is an unprecedented response and evidence of how many Michigan residents want to quit using tobacco. Typically our quit line receives 20 to 40 calls every 15 minutes. A high volume day yields some 100 to 200 calls. The quit line has the capacity to receive up to 599 calls simultaneously. More than 400 staff members have been fielding phone calls.

While call volumes have declined somewhat, they remain very heavy. Currently callers are not being kept on hold longer than three minutes - something our vendor recommended and has since advised is helping to free up phone lines and allow more residents to reach a counselor. We encourage residents to call back again as we work to help as many Michigan residents as possible with their efforts to quit using tobacco.

We recommend residents use 1-800-480-7848 to reach the Quit Line. If they are unable to get through they can call 1-800-QUIT NOW.