Take The Great American Smokeout Challenge
The Great American Smokeout, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, is an annual event held the third Thursday of November that encourages smokers to make a plan to quit, or to plan in advance and quit smoking on that day, in an effort to stop permanently.
This year, the Smokeout will be held Thursday, Nov. 21. The event challenges people to stop using tobacco and helps people know about the many tools they can use to quit and stay quit.
Fifty years after the release of the first Surgeon General’s report on smoking and health, remarkable progress has been made. Since 1964, smoking prevalence among U.S. adults has been reduced by half. Unfortunately, tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of disease, disability, and death in the United States.
In 2010, nearly two out of three adult smokers wanted to quit, and more than half had made a quit attempt for at least 1 day in the preceding year. However, an estimated one out of five U.S. adults still smokes (that is more than 43 million people). And about 15 million people smoke tobacco in cigars or pipes.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for men and women. About 87 percent of lung cancer deaths are thought to result from smoking. Smoking also causes cancers of the larynx (voice box), mouth, pharynx (throat), esophagus (swallowing tube) and bladder. It also has been linked to the development of cancers of the pancreas, cervix, ovary (mucinous), colon/rectum, kidney, stomach, and some types of leukemia.
Cigars and pipes cause cancers, too. Smoking is responsible for nearly 1 in 3 cancer deaths, and 1 in 5 deaths from all causes. Another 8.6 million people live with serious illnesses caused by smoking.
Quitting smoking is beneficial to health at any age and has immediate and long-term benefits. Getting help through counseling or medications can double or triple the chances of quitting successfully. Research shows that smokers are most successful in kicking the habit when they have support.
Each year, the Great American Smokeout also draws attention to the deaths and chronic diseases caused by smoking. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, many state and local governments responded by banning smoking in workplaces and restaurants, raising taxes on cigarettes, limiting cigarette promotions, discouraging teen cigarette use, and taking further action to counter smoking. These efforts continue today.
Additional information and support for quitting is available by telephone (800-QUIT-NOW [800-784-8669]) 8 a.m. to 3 a.m. seven days a week. For your convenience, there is a web coach and Text2Quit access 24/7 (www.eQuitNow.com).
For questions or information about local help and resources, call the Kosciusko County Tobacco Free Coalition, 260-571-2464.