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Pictured is an image from last year's Great American Smokeout in downtown Washington. This year's event will be held Nov. 19. WASHINGTON -- November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month and the "Great American Smokeout."
What a terrific time to draw attention to an ever-increasing issue that faces many New Jersey (and Warren County) residents, says Community Prevention Resources of Warren County, Inc.'s Leeanne Del Prado, Community Partnerships Coordinator for a Tobacco Free NJ. . . .
"We, as a community, cannot ignore the statistics nor can we deny the direct correlations to tobacco usage and sickness and death," said Del Prado. "We should commemorate efforts to stop smoking and recognize that lung cancer is fatal sickness in Warren County by supporting a smoke free environment. Your efforts can make a bigger difference than you think."
If you or someone you know would like to quit smoking and needs assistance, contact Leeanne Del Prado at Community Prevention Resources of Warren County, Inc. 908-835-1800. For further information about Community Prevention Resources, visit www.communitypreventionresources.org.
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The impact of smoking on your health is well documented, but counselors at Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) of East Tennessee know that it can also wreak havoc on a person's financial health. Whether it's helping people struggling with credit card debt or trying to avoid foreclosure, counselors find that tobacco use adds a significant amount to monthly household expenditures and they advise consumers to consider reducing or quitting smoking to save money.
A pack-a-day smoker spending an average of $5.15 per pack could save $1,879 per year by quitting smoking. These funds could be used to cover living expenses, reduce household debt or start a savings plan. Invested in a basic savings plan paying just 3 percent interest, you would have in excess of $21,000 after 10 years. Over 30 years, that figure climbs to more than $91,000.
The 34th Great American Smokeout, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, is scheduled to take place Nov. 19. The purpose of the event is to set aside day to help smokers quit smoking, quit using tobacco products, for at least one day, with the hope they will decide to quit completely.
The Great American Smokeout began in 1971 when a Massachusetts resident asked people to give up smoking for a day and to donate the money they would have spent on tobacco to a local high school.
The best way to prevent lung cancer is to never start smoking at all. . . .
Texas AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas Cancer Council encourage all smokers to take part in the Great American Smokeout on Nov. 19 in a step to eventually quit smoking.
For more information, contact Rita M. Hodges, county extension agent for family and consumer sciences, 701 S. Interstate 35E, Suite 3, Waxahachie; call 972-825-5175; or e-mail rmhodges@ag.tamu.edu.
On Nov. 19, many people will throw away their cigarettes in honor of the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout. Jason Halford, 29, of Joliet probably will not be one of them.
In the nine years since he started smoking, Halford has quit twice, but he blames job and money-related stresses for lighting back up. Even the rising cost of cigarettes isn't enough to discourage him.
"I buy cheap brands and look for dollar-off specials," Halford said.
While some people might think the high cost of keeping the habit would discourage its use, recent research suggests the opposite may be true.
Dr. Bruce Christiansen of the University of Wisconsin's Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (CTRI) discovered that half the adults in Milwaukee's poorest neighborhoods smoke, despite paying $9 for a pack of cigarettes on a household income below $15,000.
Realtors use a phrase to describe their key to success: location, location, location. Similarly, your doctor will offer a three-dose prescription for COPD relief: quit smoking, quit smoking, quit smoking.
While a small number of cases of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) can be attributed to a rare genetic enzyme deficiency, the majority of the 16 million Americans suffering breath-restricting COPD can directly link their condition to tobacco use.
Smoking damages your lungs irreversibly. But for people with moderate symptoms of COPD, there have been some recent advances in medication and symptom control that can significantly improve their quality of life.
Are you contributing to the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States? You could be if you smoke. Smoking cigarettes and cigars is the most common cause of lung cancer, which kills more people than breast, prostate, colon, liver, kidney and melanoma cancers combined. Studies have shown that tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the U.S.
As the official sponsor of birthdays, the American Cancer Society marks the 34th Great American Smokeout on Nov. 19 by encouraging smokers to use the date to make a plan to quit, or to plan in advance and quit smoking that day. By doing so, smokers will be taking an important step toward a healthier life - one that can lead to reducing cancer risk and creating more birthdays. . . .
We know that quitting smoking is tough and that most smokers have to try several times before quitting for good. The American Cancer Society offers a variety of effective resources ranging from online tips and tools to personalized telephone coaching by trained specialists. We hope that smokers will use the Great American Smokeout to map out a course of action that will help them to quit, and in turn to stay well and celebrate more birthdays.
The American Cancer Society created the trademarked concept for and held its first Great American Smokeout in 1976 as a way to inspire and encourage smokers to quit for a day. One million people quit smoking for a day at the 1976 event in California. The Great American Smokeout encourages smokers to commit to making a long-term plan to quit smoking for good.
The University of Louisville's Belknap Campus and UofL-owned or controlled properties on Shelby Campus will become smoke free on Nov. 19, the day of the Great American Smoke Out, according to university officials.
"Our Health Sciences Center campus has been smoke free since January 2008," said Provost Shirley Willihnganz. "Smoking harms both the smoker and those around the smoker. This is a public health matter. It's time that all of the university is smoke free."
There will be a grace period between Nov. 19 and June 1 on Belknap and Shelby campuses. Smokers will be allowed to smoke in designated areas until June 1.
During the grace period, Willihnganz said, the employee health management program Get Healthy Now and student Campus Health Services will work to connect students, faculty and staff who want to stop smoking with classes and smoking cessation products.
Southwest Florida hospitals are going to help employees, patients and their families quit the habit.
The NCH Healthcare System and Physicians Regional Healthcare System in Collier County are teaming up with the Lee Memorial Health System in Lee County to become tobacco-free campuses effective Nov. 19, which will be the Great American Smokeout Day in 2009.
The unified effort began as a result of a conversation in January with the chief executive officer of Lee Memorial, and the NCH leadership was brought into the discussion, said Geoffrey Moebius, chief executive officer of Physicians Regional.
"It is the right thing to do. Smoking can really have an impact on people's health," Moebius said.
Cook County government's medical system will ban smoking entirely at all its hospitals and clinics in November, stubbing out outdoor smoking on its properties, officials said Wednesday.
Smoking has long been banned inside hospitals and clinics, but it now will be forbidden on all land owned by the Cook County Health and Hospitals System.
County Board President Todd Stroger, who announced the new policy in front of Stroger Hospital with system officials, lauded the decision to make the grounds smoke-free.
"I think it's important as a health institution that we lead by example," Stroger said. "You can't promote a healthy lifestyle without having a healthy environment."
The ban will go into effect along with the American Cancer Society's annual Great American Smokeout on Nov. 19.
Smoking and I never became an item.
And then I joined the Army.
Smoking — tobacco use in general, actually — is prevalent in the military. At times it seemed that there were more smokers, or tobacco users, than non-smokers.
In formations sometimes, smokers were offered privileges the rest of us did not get. . . .
As a company commander, I remember getting only one flier from the medical facility encouraging soldiers to sign up for a smoking cessation class that was offered. It was the military’s one attempt to offer a program to help smokers to quit. It was voluntary, of course, and soldiers were offered group counseling sessions to talk about the dangers of smoking, nicotine gum or patches and all of it was free of charge.
No one in my unit jumped on the bandwagon.
In Iraq, smoking and tobacco products were so popular that those were the first things to fly off the shelf at the AAFES stores. . . .
And with all of the smoking and tobacco cessation efforts across the nation — anti-smoking commercials on television, high-priced tobacco products — it seems as if the military is “out of step” and barely making the same effort to save its soldiers.
After all, what happens when a soldier who’s been smoking or using tobacco products for 20 years comes down with a smoking-related condition such as cancer, cardiovascular disease or noncancerous respiratory disease?
That soldier will seek medical assistance from his or her local VA . . .
I’m sure there are a lot of people out there, just like me, who may perceive smoking to be cool. But, besides the harmful effects on a person, the effect on taxpayers’ wallets negates any coolness.
So, in honor of the annual Great American Smokeout, slated for Nov. 20, I urge all soldiers, non-soldiers and former soldiers, to put out that cigarette for the last time.
[Cousin Sal squirts Kimmel Show employees taking smoking breaks]
Jimmy Kimmel Live covers the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout on November 16, 2006.
[Cousin Sal sprays smokers on the street with a fire extinguisher, saying, "Thanks for not smoking."]
Tomorrow, November 20, is the Great American Smokeout. A day the American Cancer Society encourages smokers to either reduce the amount they smoke that day or to quit smoking on that day. Read more about the origins of the Smokeout day.
The health benefits from this are well reported. However, did you know your cat will benefit as well?
Pets are affected by secondhand smoke. Your cat could get cancer from breathing through the haze of cigarette smoke.
According to a report released by an Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension Service veterinarian, Dr. Carolynn MacAllister, "cats living with smokers are twice as likely to develop malignant lymphoma, a cancer that occurs in the lymph nodes and that is fatal to three out of four cats within 12 months of developing it."
A study at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University "found the incidence of mouth cancer was higher for cats living with smokers. Cats constantly lick themselves
The Great American Smokeout was Nov. 20. If you want to quit smoking, there are plenty of resources available to help you succeed.
A simple call to Quitline Iowa at 1-(800) QUIT-NOW will get you the information you need at no cost and will guide you on your path to wellness. People need to take their own approach, but coming up with a plan, working with a coach and taking advantage of medication available can increase success rates significantly.
Students from UMass Amherst's Student Health Advisory Board had a clear message for the campus: Smoking is bad for you.
So what inspired their declaration?
The 33rd annual great american smoke out.
"A day in which we want as many people to quit smoking as we can," said board member Colli McKiernan.
So one of the ways they're trying to encourage people to stop smoking is by creating a visual display of cigarette butts. They collected all the pieces in one day and in just three hours. They were able to collect 12 lbs. of cigarette butts.
"It's pretty amazing," said McKiernan. "If you think about it in three hours we collected 12 lbs. One cigarette weighs like nothing."