New Mexicans who call 1-800-QUIT-NOW, a program to help people kick nicotine products, are being turned away. The state has also instructed local organizations doing smoking prevention work to stop their projects.
When New Mexicans call , they鈥檙e told that, due to a budget shortfall, the service is unavailable in the state and to check back in September. The resource has been suspended since June 29, according to a notice sent out by the New Mexico Health Department鈥檚 Nicotine Use Prevention and Control Program (NUPAC), which funds it.
Additionally, community organizations that contract with NUPAC to do prevention work say the program notified them in early May to suspend those efforts 鈥� about two months before their contracts were set to end.
Spokesperson for the Department of Health David Morgan said the agency was 鈥渇orced to make tough decisions鈥� in the face of an 鈥渦nexpected budget shortfall鈥� in the tobacco settlement funds that finance NUPAC. Those included prioritizing the Quitline through the end of the fiscal year, while cutting off contractors earlier.
The Department of Finance and Administration credits a decline in tobacco product sales last year with the decrease in funds.
Alex Ross-Reed, director of the Health Equity Alliance for LGBTQ+ New Mexicans, said her organization lost the remaining money in its nicotine prevention budget and was told that funding for this fiscal year wasn鈥檛 guaranteed either. The Department of Health is currently approving contracts for the next four-year funding cycle, according to Morgan, at which time prevention services will be reinstated.
Kenneth Winfrey is co-chair of the New Mexico African American Tobacco Prevention Network. He told an interim legislative committee that May鈥檚 notice came without warning and that NUPAC asked his organization to give back $6,000. He said this wasn鈥檛 the first time the funding, which he described as 鈥渋nconsistent and unreliable,鈥� has dried up.
鈥淲e鈥檝e counted almost a whole year of lost time over the past several years that we couldn鈥檛 work because there was no funding for it,鈥� he told the panel of lawmakers.
Legislators on the expressed concern over the latest stoppage. Rep. Liz Thomson, D-Bernalillo, questioned why the health department hadn鈥檛 requested a budget adjustment or sought out supplementary funding amid a record state surplus. She called the amount NUPAC would need to continue funding the efforts 鈥減ocket change鈥� in the scheme of the state鈥檚 budget.
鈥淔or them to just say, 鈥極h, we鈥檙e out of money. So, people who are doing good things in the community, you鈥檙e out of luck.鈥� And smokers who finally come to the [decision] 鈥業鈥檓 ready to quit,鈥� and they call 鈥� how many more years until they decide [to call] again?,鈥� she asked. 鈥淚t seems totally backward.鈥�
The committee plans to question the department at their next meeting on Sept. 6.
Rep. Gail Chasey, D-Bernalillo, requested that the Department of Health notify the committee of any immediate plans to resume funding for the Quitline. Spokesperson David Morgan told 九色网 that the Quitline is also being held up by the vendor selection process for the new funding cycle that鈥檚 underway. He said the resource will be reinstated once a contract is approved.
We will continue reporting on NUPAC鈥檚 budgetary issues and the state of nicotine prevention and cessation services as we learn more.
