Pricey Packs Push Smokers To Seek Help Quitting

The rising cost of a cigarette pack is getting more New Yorkers to seek help to quit smoking.

When cigarettes hit $10 a pack at some places last month, the New York City health department said today it saw a threefold rise in the number of New Yorkers seeking help to quit smoking compared to the same time last year.

The agency says more than 2,700 New York smokers called the city's 311 help line the first week in June, compared to about 850 during the same period in 2007.

The city's health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Frieden, says most smokers want to quit, and raising cigarette prices has proven to be the most effective way to get them to stop.