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Excerpts from: Ky. Smokers Offered Cash to Quit

                     by STEVE BAILEY, Associated Press [08/02/01]

Ky. Smokers Offered Cash to Quit

Quit & Win 2001 - Fayette County Health Department

                     LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- Forget personal goals, will power or resolutions.
                     Kentucky health officials are using the lure of cold, hard cash to get people to
                     end their addiction to tobacco.

                     As part of a statewide contest called ''Bluegrass Quit and Win 2001,'' smokers
                     who are able to live without tobacco for a month will be entered into a drawing
                     for a $2,500 grand prize or one of five $500 runner-up prizes.

                     ''The exciting thing about this program is that we may have as many people quit
                     smoking during this one month than have quit across the state in the last five
                     years combined,'' said Todd Warnick, smoking-cessation director for Fayette
                     County, one of 10 counties sponsoring the contest.

                     According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 29.7 percent
                     of Kentucky's adult population smokes. It trails only Nevada in the percentage of
                     smokers and the rate of tobacco-related deaths.

                     ''We'll do anything we can do to help those numbers go down and help people
                     lead a healthier lifestyle,'' Warnick said. ''This contest is a way to reach a large
                     number of people in a very effective and cost-efficient manner.''