Royal Purple

Issue date: 11/20/07 Section: News

The Great American Smokeout, a program encouraging smokers to kick the habit and keep others from beginning, celebrated its 31st year all over the United States Thursday.

"The Great American Smoke Out is a national day created by the American Cancer Society to make people aware of the health effects of smoking and second hand smoke," Brittany Bellows, president of Colleges Against Cancer, said. "The point is to attempt to get smokers to quit smoking and to keep others from starting to smoke."

Exactly half of the United States now has smoke-free laws, and Wisconsin has a proposed bill to become smoke-free. Wisconsin currently has legislation in progress that will boost the price of cigarettes $1 a pack beginning Jan.1.

According to the Wisconsin State Journal, the increased tax will cause more than 33,300 residents to stop smoking. Also, this hike will cause 65,800 to never begin smoking, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

The Great American Smokeout began as a smaller event in 1971 by Arthur P. Mullaney. In 1974, Lynn R. Smith, editor of the Monticello Times in Minnesota, spearheaded the state's first "D-Day, or Don't Smoke Day. The success of this event led the California division of the American Cancer Society to get nearly one million smokers to quit for the day on Nov. 18, 1976. The event marked the first Great American Smokeout. It began nationally in 1977. The event is now on the third Thursday of November, one week before Thanksgiving.

"The American Cancer Society is here to help smokers who want to quit, and we have an abundance of resources to assist," Elmer E. Huerta, president of the American Cancer Society, said. "We urge smokers to learn more about quitting and make a plan to begin a smoke-free life."

The Great American Smokeout is part of the American Cancer Society's Great American Health Challenge. The American Cancer Society was founded in 1913 and promotes healthy lifestyles for individuals.

"With exactly half of country now protected by smoke-free laws, the lifesaving results of comprehensive tobacco control efforts in the United States are clear," Huerta said. "By continuing efforts to reduce exposure to toxic secondhand smoke, and helping more Americans quit smoking, we will continue to make progress against cancer."

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