Tobacco Prevention and Cessation

MT Clean Indoor Air Act

• Complaint Report Form
• Implementation Protocol for Lewis and Clark County(PDF, 76KB)

City of Helena Tobacco Point-of-Sale Ordinance, 2018(PDF, 16KB)

• Help us create Montana’s first Tobacco Free generation! Learn more at reACT!
• Most tobacco products are bought in gas stations and grocery stores where the industry focuses the majority of its marketing efforts, and targets youth. Point-of-sale strategies can reduce exposure to tobacco products and advertising in stores. Learn more at Montana Tobacco Retailer Mapper.
• E-cigarettes are now the MOST commonly used tobacco product among Montana's teens. More than HALF of Montana high school students have tried e-cigarettes. ONE in THREE Montana high school students currently use e-cigarettes. Learn more at Youth E-cigarette Use: A Montana Epidemic.
• Big Tobacco targets kids with; flavors, marketing, and new gimmicks. Learn more at Big Tobacco Targets Kids!
  • E-cigarettes come in over 15,500 different flavors, like cotton candy, skittles, O.M.G. and unicorn puke. Most (96%) youth e-cigarette users started with a flavored product. 70% of youth e-cigarette users report flavors as the reason they use e-cigarettes.
  • The tobacco industry spends $27.7 million each year in Montana promoting their products. E-cigarettes are advertised using celebrity endorsements, cartoon characters, sport and event sponsorships and social media influencers. In 2019, 70% of U.S. middle and high school students had been exposed to e-cigarette marketing.
  • The new generation of e-cigarette products, like JUUL, have a sleek, high-tech design and are easy to conceal. Some e-cigarettes can be dressed up and customized with colorful sleeves and accessories. E-cigarette companies have come out with products that are disguised as sweatshirts and watches.

The Montana legislature passed the Clean Indoor Air Act (CIAA), one of the most important public health policies in state history, in 2005. The law requires all enclosed public places and workplaces, including work vehicles, or vehicles that serve as a place of work, and vehicles accessible to the public, such as taxis and buses to be smokefree; and it requires businesses to prominently place smokefree signs on all public entrances. The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services has adopted these rules.

The health benefits of the Clean Indoor Air Act are three-fold:

1. Patrons and workers alike are protected from the deadly health effects of secondhand smoke exposure.
2. More people who smoke will try to quit.
3. Fewer Montana youth will begin smoking.

You Can Report CIAA Complaints Here 

Link

QUIT YOUR WAY with the Montana Tobacco Quit Line. Staffed 7 days a week: 5 AM to 11 PM, with 24-hour voicemail.

Enrollment through 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669)

Montana Tobacco Quit Line: NEW online chat feature

• *NEW* Chat with a coach through the Quit Line webpage
• A FREE personalized quit plan
• 5 FREE pro-active cessation coaching sessions
• 8 weeks of FREE nicotine replacement therapy available for callers engaged in the program
• Reduced cost cessation medication
• For more information, view the Montana Tobacco Quit Line Frequently Asked Questions.

My Life, My Quit

• 5 FREE coaching sessions either by text, chat, or phone to help youth under 18 quit all forms of tobacco including vaping
• Dedicated toll-free number (1-855-891-9989)
• Text "START" to 36072
• Online enrollment through mylifemyquit.com
• RESPECTS privacy through confidential enrollment and coaching. No one will know someone enrolls unless they want them to know

Quit Now Montana Pregnancy Program: NEW Increased Cash Incentives

In addition to the Montana Tobacco Quit Line services, the Quit Now Montana Pregnancy Program offers:

• FREE personal female coach
• FREE NRT during pregnancy and additional weeks postpartum
• CASH INCENTIVES- $20 for completed coaching calls while pregnant (up to 5 calls), $30 for completed coaching calls post-partum (up to 4 calls)
• 9 FREE coaching calls

Be sure to identify yourself as pregnant when calling the Montana Tobacco Quit Line!

In addition to the Montana Tobacco Quit Line services, the American Indian Commercial Tobacco Quit Line offers:

• FREE culturally sensitive coaching with American Indian coaches
• 10 FREE coaching sessions
• Dedicated toll-free number (1-855-5AI-QUIT)
• Staffed Monday-Friday 6:00am to 7:30pm, MST.

The Montana Clean Indoor Air Act (MCIAA) does not regulate smoking in individual apartments; however, landlords have the right to implement smokefree policies. The Housing and Urban Development Department implemented a smokefree rule, requiring all HUD funded units go smokefree by 2018. Also, many private landlords implement smokefree policies in their multi-unit housing facilities to protect their tenants from the dangers associated with smoking. Check out theFive Reasons to go Smokefree.

Tobacco-free events foster a healthy environment and model healthy behaviors for the youth who attend. The Montana Tobacco Use Prevention Program offers amodel tobacco-free event policyand assistance to any organization that wishes to implement a tobacco-free policy.

Tobacco-free parks promote positive community role modeling and protect the health, safety, and welfare of community members. Secondhand smoke levels in outdoor public places can reach levels as high as those found in indoor facilities where smoking is permitted. Helena currently has Tobacco Free City Parks. "Why You Want Tobacco-Free Parks in Your Community" Infographic.(PDF, 1MB)

Worksite wellness programs and policies have a substantial impact on health care costs, absenteeism, workers compensation costs, and productivity. If you are interested in finding out more on how to build or strengthen the worksite wellness program, including implementing a tobacco-free workplace policy at your worksite please visitMontana's Worksite Wellness webpage.

This page provides resources that Helena businesses and organizations can use to develop a policy to protect patrons and employees from secondhand smoke outside their place of business.

In 2019, Helena officials, health and business advocates, and business owners worked together to draft A Resolution Establishing Voluntary Outdoor Smoke-Free Areas and Enhanced Practices to Reduce Outdoor Secondhand Smoke Exposure in Public Places.(PDF, 14KB) The City-County Board of Health and the Helena City Commission approved the resolution in the summer of 2019.

The resolution encourages businesses and organizations to create workable policies to protect their patrons and employees from secondhand smoke. It takes into consideration that some businesses want to accommodate smoking patrons and employees by setting up outdoor smoking areas – and that nonsmoking patrons and employees might not be able to avoid breathing tobacco smoke wafting from them.

The resolution doesn’t eliminate outside smoking areas. Instead, it encourages businesses and organizations to take a closer look at how such areas affect the air their patrons and employees breathe. It asks them to adopt individual business policies that work for them.

Such a policy could mean banning smoking entirely anywhere on the business premises or setting a distance from the entrance beyond which patrons and employees can smoke. Any policy must comply with the Montana Clean Indoor Air Act, which already prohibits smoking inside public places.

Help Us Celebrate Your Healthier Business

If your business or organization has adopted a policy to protect your patrons and employees from outside smoke, we would love to recognize and celebrate your healthy decision by sharing your name and logo on this page. Let us know who you are -- and help us track the difference the resolution makes in our community -- by taking this short survey.

Survey: Let Us Know How Your Smoking-Distance Policy Is Working

Things to Consider Before Drafting a Policy(PDF, 104KB)

Model Smoking-Distance Policy(PDF, 121KB)

Frequently Asked Questions(PDF, 139KB)