Before lighting up a cigarette today, smokers should consider that it’s the 31st anniversary of the Great American Smokeout.
The smokeout is sponsored by the American Cancer Society as part of a year-round initiative to encourage people to adopt healthy lifestyles and reduce the risk of cancer.
“The American Cancer Society is here to help smokers who want to quit, and we have an abundance of resources to assist,” Dr. Elmer E. Huerta, president of the society, said in a press release.
The smokeout grew out of a 1971 event in Randolph, Mass., in which people were encouraged to give up smoking for a day and donate the money they would have spent on cigarettes to a local high school scholarship fund.
In 1974, a newspaper editor in Minnesota spearheaded that state’s first “Don’t Smoke Day.”
The movements in Massachusetts and Minnesota caught on and in 1976 the cancer society helped 1 million smokers in California quit for at least the day during a smokeout.
The California event marked the first Great American Smokeout, which went nationwide the following year.
It has paved the way for millions to quit smoking permanently.
Smokers who want help kicking the habit can call the society’s quitline at 800-ACS-2345.
Quitline staff have provided support to more than 280,000 smokers since its inception in 2000, according to the cancer society.
More information on the smokeout is available at .
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
