The San Diego "Quit to Win" program represents the first time such a contest is being sponsored in a large urban area. The program is adapted from recent federal smoking studies that used the lure of prizes to attract people in scattered suburbs nationwide for a long-term research project. The San Diego program involves no organized research or government funds and depends on community businesses to donate the prizes.

"Since the first statement (on the dangers of smoking) from the U.S. surgeon general in 1964, the percentage of people who smoke in the U.S. has been halved, from 60% to about 30%," [John Elder] said. That means those people who found quitting fairly easy have already done so, he said.

Elder's committee estimated there are 180,000 smokers in San Diego County. The number is lower than the nationwide figure because Californians, who place a greater emphasis on health, generally consume less tobacco than do people elsewhere in the country, Elder said.