Great American Smokeout; Fast Facts ~

It's time to kick off the Great American Smokeout week ~
The American Cancer Society first sponsored this event in 1977. On the third Thursday in November of each year, the Great American Smokeout encourages people to stop smoking, even if it is for just one day.

Fast Facts:

*Held on the third Thursday of November each year.
* 2009 Great American Smokeout: Thursday, November 19th
* Challenge: Quit smoking for 24 hours
* The Great American Smokeout began in Massachusetts in 1971 when a high school guidance counselor asked people to give up cigarettes for a day.
* The idea caught on and the first "D-Day" or "Don't Smoke Day" was held in Minnesota in 1976. * The American Cancer Society began sponsoring the event in 1977.
* By the early 1980s, nearly 16.5 million people participated in the Great American Smokeout.
* Smokers who smoke one pack a day spend about $1,600 a year on cigarettes.
* Use of tobacco products contributed to over 438,000 premature deaths in the U.S. between 1997 and 2001.
* 87 percent of lung cancer deaths are associated with smoking.
* At least 16 types of cancer are associated with smoking.