Great American Smokeout

2010 American Cancer Society Great American Smokeout Facts at a Glance

• This year, the Great American Smokeout will be held November 18.

• Quitting and avoiding tobacco products is one of the most important steps to creating a world with less cancer and more birthdays. It helps Americans stay well by reducing their risk of cancer.

• The Great American Smokeout is designed to motivate and empower smokers with personalized tools, tips, and support to help them quit for good.

• The Society hosted its first Great American Smokeout in 1976 as a way to inspire and encourage smokers to quit for one day.

• Smokeout does more than urge smokers to quit for a single day -- it encourages people to help create a world with less cancer and more birthdays by committing to making a long-term plan to quit for good and/or by supporting laws that help protect communities from tobacco.

• The American Cancer Society and its nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action NetworkSM (ACS CAN), have been successful in protecting the public from cigarettes and secondhand smoke:
• Today, nearly 75 percent of the United States population is covered by 100 percent smoke-free workplace and/or restaurant and/or bar laws, despite aggressive efforts by tobacco companies to defeat such laws.*
• Thirty-five states, the District of Columbia, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico now protect nonsmokers by prohibiting smoking in workplaces, and/or restaurants, and/or bars.*
• Forty-seven states and the District of Columbia have increased their cigarette taxes since 2000.*

• In 2007, 39.8 percent (13.4 million) of adult current everyday smokers had stopped smoking for at least one day during the preceding 12 months because they were trying to quit. **

• Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the United States.*