COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- The number of calls to tobacco quit lines has increased noticeably in Ohio and nationwide since the government launched a graphic ad campaign aimed at shocking smokers into quitting with the sometimes-gruesome stories of people damaged by tobacco products.

The Columbus Dispatch ( http://bit.ly/HlM73v ) reports the government-sponsored 1-800-QUIT-NOW line fielded about 14,400 calls the week before the ad campaign started on March 19. That number more than doubled after the ads began, with more than 34,400 calls made to the line from March 26 to April 1.

Ohioans who call that line are redirected to the Ohio Quit Line. In the week before the ads, the Ohio line took an average of 34 calls a day. There were 136 calls the day the graphic ad campaign started.

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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com