Great American Smoke Out
As the official sponsor of birthdays, the American CancerSociety marks the 35th great American Smokeout Thursday byencouraging smokers to use the date to make a plot to quit, or toplan in advance and quit smoking that day. according to an AmericanCancer Society report Cancer Prevention & Early Detection Facts& Figures 2010, smokers who quit can expect to live as many as10 years longer (that’s 10 more birthdays) than those who continueto smoke. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for bothmen and women. in Missouri an estimated 5,360 people will bediagnosed with lung cancer this year and 3,950 will die of thedisease. [Cancer Facts & Figures 2010]
“Quitting smoking is an important step towards staying well andcreating a world with more birthdays,” said April Dzubic of theAmerican Cancer Society. “The American Cancer Society GreatAmerican Smokeout is a great first step towards quitting or makinga plot to quit, and the Society can help smokers through a varietyof resources including personalized telephone coaching by trainedspecialists.”
Smokers who want to quit can call the American Cancer SocietyQuit for Life® Program operated and managed by Free & Clear® at1-800-227-2345 for tobacco cessation and coaching services that canhelp increase their chances of quitting for excellent. the Society alsohas online tools at cancer.org/Smokeout, such as a crave button anda quit clock to help smokers plot towards kicking the habit forgood. State quitlines are available by calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW(1-800-784-8669).
For local community organizations, schools and businesses thatwould like to host their own great American Smokeout event, theSociety offers materials in both English and Spanish atsmokeoutresources.org. these materials can be downloaded free ofcharge.
Research shows that much of the risk of premature death fromsmoking could be prevented by quitting. Smokers who quit,regardless of age, live longer than people who continue to smoke.Smokers who quit reduce their risk of lung cancer – ten years afterquitting, the lung cancer death rate is about half that of acontinuing smoker’s. Quitting also lowers the risk for other majordiseases including heart disease and stroke.
The Society made the trademarked concept for and held itsfirst great American Smokeout in 1976 as a way to inspire andencourage smokers to quit for a day. One million people quitsmoking for a day that year during the event in California. TheGreat American Smokeout encourages smokers to commit to making along-term plot to quit smoking for excellent.
Vital facts about tobacco use:
- Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause ofdisease and premature death in the US.
- Each year, smoking results in an estimated 443, 000 prematuredeaths, of which about
49, 400 are in nonsmokers as a result of exposure to secondhandsmoke.
- Smoking accounts for $193 billion in health care expendituresand productivity losses.
- Tobacco use increases the risk of cancers of the lung, mouth,nasal cavities, larynx, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, colorectum,liver, pancreas, kidney, bladder, uterine cervix, ovary and myeloidleukemia.
- Exposure to secondhand smoke increases the risk of lungcancer.
- thirty percent of cancer deaths, including 87 percent of lungcancer deaths, can be attributed to tobacco.
- Between 1997 and 2004, the percentage of adults who smokedecreased from 27.6 percent to 23.4 percent in men, and from 22.1percent to 18.5 percent in women.
- Currently, an estimated 79.8 percent of smokers smokecigarettes daily. this is an estimated 36.7 million people.
- Adults without a high school degree are three times morelikely to be current smokers than those with a college degree.
- Smokers who quit can expect to live as many as 10 years longerthan those who continue to smoke. One study showed that those whoquit smoking at age 60, 50, 40, or 30 gained about three, six,nine, or 10 years of life expectancy respectively.
- Smokers who quit before age 50 cut their risk of dying in thenext 15 years in half, compared to those who continue to smoke.
- Quitting tobacco use lowers risk for other major diseases,including heart disease and stroke.
About the American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion withnearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering fromcancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three millionvolunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancerin every community. We save lives by helping people stay well bypreventing cancer or detecting it early; helping people get well bybeing there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; byfinding cures through investment in groundbreaking discovery; andby fighting back by rallying lawmakers to pass laws to defeatcancer and by rallying communities worldwide to join the fight. Asthe nation’s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research,contributing more than $3.5 billion, we turn what we know aboutcancer into what we do. As a result, about 11 million people inAmerica who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided itwill be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us orto get help, call us any time, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 orvisit cancer.org.