The 33rd Annual Great American Smoke Out

When I was a kid, smoking was "cool". Everyone did it. You saw it on television and in the movies and chances are, your parents smoked.

Since I grew up in that environment, I became a smoker at the ripe old age of 12 years old. Are you shocked? I proceeded to smoke for about 13 years but quit when I moved to Texas and got a fancy engineering job. And now, I think smoking is disgusting. But that probably has a lot to do with the whole quitting thing.

You may or may not know, but today is the 33rd annual Great American Smoke Out!! You didn't know? Well, let me tell you about it...

From the American Cancer Society Press Release:

Thursday, November 20, is the 33rd Great American Smokeout, and the American Cancer Society continues its legacy of providing free resources to help smokers quit. The Great American Smokeout was inaugurated in 1976 to inspire and encourage smokers to quit for one day. Now, 44.2 percent of the 45.3 million Americans who smoke have attempted to quit for at least one day in the past year, and the Great American Smokeout remains a great opportunity to encourage people to commit to making a long-term plan to quit for good.

With all the resources available to help smokers quit, there has never been a better time to quit smoking, and the American Cancer Society is here to help. If you smoke, make a plan and set the Great American Smokeout, November 20, 2008, as your quit date. By calling the American Cancer Society Quitline® at 1-800-227-2345, people who plan to quit will be able to speak with a trained counselor and receive free, confidential counseling.

How about a few benefits you gain from quitting?

• 20 minutes after quitting: Your heart rate and blood pressure drops. (Effect of Smoking on Arterial Stiffness and Pulse Pressure Amplification, Mahmud, A, Feely, J. 2003. Hypertension:41:183.)


• 12 hours after quitting: The carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal. (US Surgeon General's Report, 1988, p. 202)


• 2 weeks to 3 months after quitting: Your circulation improves and your lung function increases. (US Surgeon General's Report, 1990, pp.193, 194,196, 285, 323)

And a couple facts about secondhand smoke:

• Secondhand smoke is the combination of smoke emitted from the burning ends of a tobacco product (sidestream smoke) and the smoke exhaled from the lungs of tobacco users (mainstream smoke).


• Secondhand smoke contains over 4000 substances, more than 60 of which are known or suspected to cause cancer.

Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the United States. Each year, smoking accounts for an estimated 438,000 premature deaths, including 38,000 deaths among nonsmokers as a result of secondhand smoke. Half of all Americans who continue to smoke will die from smoking-related diseases.

If you are thinking about quitting the American Cancer Society has a ton of ways to help you. And, chances are, so does your health insurance provider. For more information anytime, call toll free 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit www.cancer.org.