While tobacco use has been significantly reduced over the past three decades, nearly one quarter of Americans continue to use tobacco products. Tobacco use is the number one preventable cause of death and disease in the United States. Today, November 16th, marks the 30-year anniversary of a day dedicated to spotlighting the health dangers of tobacco use and the challenges of quitting.
The American Cancer Society, the sponser of the Great American Smokeout®, urges Americans who smoke and want to quit to call the American Cancer Society’s Quitline®, a clinically proven, free telephone-based counseling program, at 1-800-ACS-2345, or to log on to www.cancer.org/smokeout, to embark on a personal plan to quit.
In addition, Americans are encouraged to work to protect the public from exposure to secondhand smoke by supporting smoke-free workplace policies in their local communities and states.
“The American Cancer Society is here to help smokers who want to quit. On the 30th anniversary of the Great American Smokeout, we urge smokers to learn more about quitting and make a plan to begin a smoke-free life by calling the Society’s Quitline® at 1-800-ACS-2345,” said Richard C. Wender, M.D., American Cancer Society president-elect.
Significant reductions in tobacco use in the last 30 years have made smoking the exception, not the norm. Lung cancer incidence and death rates have declined in men, and there are now more former adult American smokers (46.5 million) than current adult American smokers (45.1 million).
American Cancer Society researchers recently reported that reductions in tobacco smoking account for about 40 percent of the decrease in cancer death rates among men between 1991 and 2003, and have prevented at least 146,000 cancer deaths during that time. In the U.S., more than 2,300 communities and 17 states are now smoke-free. Hawaii will join this list November 16 when it becomes the 18th smoke-free state.
Significant reductions in tobacco use in the last 30 years have made smoking the exception, not the norm. Lung cancer incidence and death rates have declined in men, and there are now more former adult American smokers (46.5 million) than current adult American smokers (45.1 million).
“The lifesaving results of comprehensive tobacco control efforts in the United States are clear,” added Wender. “By continuing efforts to reduce exposure to secondhand smoke, and helping more Americans quit smoking, we will continue to make progress against cancer.”
The American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout event grew out of a 1971 event in Randolph, Mass., in which Arthur P. Mullaney asked people to give up cigarettes for a day and donate the money they would have spent on cigarettes to a high school scholarship fund. In 1974, Lynn R. Smith, editor of the Monticello Times in Minnesota, spearheaded the state’s first D-Day, or Don’t Smoke Day. The idea caught on, and on November 18, 1976 the American Cancer Society’s California Division succeeded in getting smokers to quit for the day. The first national Great American Smokeout was held in 1977.
Source: American Cancer Society, Centers for Disease Control
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