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Great American Smokeout --- November 17, 2005
Approximately 20.9% of U.S. adults are current smokers
(1), and an estimated 70% of smokers want to quit smoking
(2). Since 1977, the American Cancer Society (ACS) has sponsored the Great American Smokeout each year on the third
Thursday in November. Smokers are encouraged to quit for 24 hours straight in the hope they might quit permanently.
Effective interventions for increasing cessation success rates include sustained media campaigns; price increases for
tobacco products; increased insurance coverage for treatment; individual, group, or telephone counseling; and approved
medications. Telephone quitlines are a cost-effective
and accessible way to provide smokers with counseling about cessation
strategies (3,4). The National Network of Quitlines, a collaborative effort of CDC, the National Cancer Institute, state quitlines,
and the North American Quitline Consortium, maintains a national telephone number (800-QUIT-NOW) that links callers
to free quitlines serving their areas.
Information about the Great American Smokeout is available from ACS at telephone, 800-227-2345, or from a local
ACS office. Information on smoking cessation is also available at
http://smokefree.gov.
Fiore MC, Bailey WC, Cohen SJ, et al. Treating tobacco use and dependence: clinical practice guideline. Rockville, MD: US
Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health
Service; 2000.
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