Grand Junction, Colo. — The Colorado QuitLine just made quitting nicotine the smartest financial decision many residents will make this year. The state-funded program now pays participants up to $100 simply for completing five phone coaching calls, while also shipping free nicotine patches, gum, or lozenges directly to your door.
Cash Rewards That Actually Add Up
The incentive structure is simple and designed to keep people engaged.
You earn $10 for the first coaching call, $15 for the second, and $25 each for calls three, four, and five. Finish all five and you walk away with exactly $100.
Tiffany Shommer, tobacco cessation supervisor with the State Tobacco Education and Prevention Partnership, says the money is not a gimmick. “We know quitting is hard,” she told KJCT. “The cash removes one more excuse and keeps people on the line long enough for the coaching to work.”
The program launched the expanded incentives this year after pilot studies showed financial rewards dramatically boost completion rates.
Free Nicotine Replacement Therapy Ships in Days
Every enrolled Coloradan gets eight weeks of free nicotine patches, gum, or lozenges, whichever works best for them. Pregnant participants or those under 18 can receive up to ten weeks.
The state covers all shipping costs. Most people receive their first package within three to seven days of signing up.
QuitLine officials say combining coaching with free NRT makes someone five times more likely to stay quit compared to going cold turkey.
Cold-turkey success rates hover between 5% and 7% at the 30-day mark. With full QuitLine support, that number jumps to 25-35% in many studies.
Why Colorado is Paying People to Quit Right Now
Colorado still has one of the lowest adult smoking rates in the country at around 12%, but youth vaping rates remain stubbornly high. Nearly one in four high school students reported vaping in the past 30 days in the latest Healthy Kids Colorado Survey.
State health leaders want to protect that progress. The $100 incentive program is paid for through Colorado’s tobacco settlement funds and federal grants, not taxpayer dollars.
Shommer adds that the timing feels urgent. “We’re seeing more dual use: people who vape and smoke. The nicotine levels in vapes are so high that many adults are more addicted now than they were ten years ago when they only smoked cigarettes.”
Real People Already Cashing In
In Mesa County, 42-year-old Jake Morales picked up his first check last week. He finished all five calls in six weeks.
“I started vaping when my kids were little because I thought it was safer than smoking around them,” Morales said. “Ten years later I was hitting that thing twenty times a day. The $100 felt like a bonus, but the coach actually cared. She helped me figure out why I vaped when I got mad. That’s what finally clicked.”
Morales has been nicotine-free for 68 days.
Since the incentive program expanded statewide, enrollments have jumped 38% compared to the same period last year, according to preliminary data shared with KJCT.
How to Get Started in Under Five Minutes
Any Colorado resident 18 or older qualifies. You do not need insurance.
Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) or visit coquitline.org and click “Enroll Now.”
Services are available in English and Spanish, and you can choose phone coaching, web chat, or text support.
The QuitLine operates seven days a week. Coaches are available until 11 p.m. on weeknights.
If you have ever thought about quitting, this is the moment. The state is literally paying you to save your lungs, your heart, and your wallet in the long run.
Thousands of Coloradans will pocket that $100 this year. Will you be one of them?
