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On November 20, 2008, the American Cancer Society marks the 32nd
annual Great American Smokeout, nationally recognized as a
platform to educate the public on the dangers associated with
tobacco use and to encourage smokers to quit for a lifetime by
starting with just one day.
In the Beginning
The idea for the Great American Smokeout grew out of a 1974
event when Lynn R. Smith, editor of the Monticello Times in
Minnesota, spearheaded the state's first D-Day, or Don't Smoke
Day. Previously, in 1971, Arthur P. Mullaney of Randolph,
Massachusetts, had asked people to give up cigarettes for a day
and donate the money they would have spent on cigarettes to a
high school scholarship fund. The idea caught on, and on
November 18, 1976, the California Division of the American
Cancer Society succeeded in getting nearly one million smokers
to quit for the day. That California event marked the first
Great American Smokeout, which went nationwide in 1977.
Some of America's most popular celebrities joined the cause as
event chairs, including Sammy Davis, Jr., Edward Asner, Natalie
Cole, Larry Hagman, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, Christy
Turlington, and "spokespud" Mr. Potato Head, who gave up his
pipe for the cause.
The Smokeout has been celebrated with rallies, parades, the
distribution of quitting information, and even "cold turkey"
menu items in schools, workplaces, military installations, and
legislative halls throughout the US.
The Great American Smokeout Today
Now that many more Americans understand the dangers associated
with tobacco use, cigarette smoking among adults aged 18 and
older has declined by nearly half between 1965 and 2002 - from
42% to 23%. An estimated 46 million adults are now former
smokers, and per-capita cigarette consumption is currently lower
than at any point since the start of World War II. Nonetheless,
roughly 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 5 teenagers in the U.S. are
current smokers, and lung cancer remains the number one cancer
killer among men and women. This year alone, approximately
174,470 new cases of lung cancer will be diagnosed in the US,
and an estimated 162,460 people will die from the disease.
Smoking is also associated with increased risk for cancers of
the mouth, larynx, pharynx, esophagus, kidney, bladder,
pancreas, and cervix and has more recently been associated with
colorectal cancer, myeloid leukemia, as well as cancers of the
liver, stomach, and nasal sinuses. Smoking is also a major cause
of heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, chronic bronchitis,
and emphysema.
Statistics illustrate what battles still must be fought, but we
have won many important victories. In 1977, Berkeley,
California, became the first community to limit smoking in
restaurants and other public places. A federal smoking ban on
all interstate buses and domestic flights of six hours or less
was passed in 1990. And in 1999, the Department of Justice filed
suit against cigarette manufacturers, charging the industry with
defrauding the public by lying about the risks of smoking.
Also in 1999, the landmark Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) was
passed, requiring tobacco companies to pay $206 billion to 45
states by the year 2025 to cover Medicaid costs for treating
smokers. The MSA also closed the Tobacco Institute and ended
cartoon advertising and tobacco billboards. In 2001, the Philip
Morris Companies officially apologized for a study commissioned
by an international affiliate that concluded the Czech Republic
benefited financially from the premature deaths of smokers.
The Future of the Great American Smokeout
Although there has been great progress, there is much more to
accomplish to significantly reduce tobacco-related cancer
diagnoses and deaths. Smoking is the most preventable cause of
death in our society, yet in 2002 an estimated 45.4 million
adults in the US were smokers. Importantly, smoking prevalence
varies by race and ethnicity, with American Indian/Alaska Native
men and women having the highest rates (40.5% and 40.9%,
respectively). Youth smoking prevalence in the US also remains
high; in 2003, 21.9 percent of US high school students were
smokers. In the absence of intervention, studies show that most
adolescent smokers continue smoking as adults.
To make the greatest impact on
lung cancer in the shortest amount of time, the American Cancer
Society will capitalize on three key areas of opportunity moving
forward: influencing policy makers to increase the number of
people who live and work in smoke-free environments; working to
secure increased tobacco taxes and appropriations for
comprehensive tobacco control programs; and increasing the
number of smokers who have access to high quality, paid smoking
cessation counseling and medications. Leveraging the brand
recognition the Society has built for the last 29 years for this
event, the Great American Smokeout provides a powerful media
platform to help further our work in these areas.
For more information about how to get involved in the Great
American Smokeout and to learn about tobacco cessation
strategies, call 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit
www.cancer.org. |
