A low‐&bgr; plasma column a few mm in diameter by 22 cm in length is heated by an axially directed CO2laser to a high‐&bgr; state in a fast rising solenoidal field. Successful heating depends on proper timing between the laser pulse and rising field. Typical conditions attained are a line energy density of 6 J/cm, T¯≈40 eV, andne≈3×1017e−/cm3, with conditions quite uniform along the length. The heating suppresses instabilities which appear under certain conditions in the non‐laser‐heated case.