Great American Smokeout 2009

Great American Smokeout
November 19, 2009

About the Great American Smokeout Event:
The American Cancer Society holds the Great American Smokeout every year on the third Thursday in November. This year the Great American Smokeout will take place on November 19, 2009. The purpose of the event is to set aside a day to help smokers quit smoking, quit using tobacco products, for at least one day, with the hope that they will quit completely.

Not only does the event challenge people to stop using tobacco, it helps to raise awareness about the dangers of smoking and the many effective ways available to quit smoking permanently.

Research shows that smokers are most successful in kicking the habit when they have some means of support, such as nicotine replacement products, counseling, prescription medicine to lessen cravings, guide books, and the encouragement of friends and family members.

How It Started:
In 1971, Arthur Mullaney, a Massachusetts resident, asked people to give up smoking for a day and to donate the money they would have spent on tobacco to a local high school. Lynn Smith, editor of the Monticello Times, led the charge to create Minnesota’s first D-Day (Don’t Smoke Day). The idea gained momentum; and, the California chapter of the American Cancer Society encouraged nearly one million smokers to quit for the day on November 18, 1976. With the success in California, the ACS took the event nationwide in 1977.