30th Annual Great American Smokeout -  Thursday, November 16th
Celebrate a Day without Tobacco and Smoking!
Give your loved ones the gift of life! Help them quit smoking! "Quitting smoking represents the single most important step that smokers can take to enhance the length and quality of their lives." — US Surgeon General

For a brief history of the Great American Smokeout Day, click here.

ANNUAL GREAT AMERICAN SMOKEOUT SLATED FOR NOVEMBER 16th
The American Cancer Society has scheduled the 30th annual Great American Smokeout for November 16, 2006, to encourage smokers to quit for a day in the hope they may quit for good.

The following events will take place: (list events e.g., Gene's restaurant will go smoke free and offer "cold turkey" subs).

Pharmacological, counseling, and behavioral therapies— including telephone counseling— can help patients quit and increase their chances of staying quit, according to The Public Health Service (PHS) guideline, "Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: A Clinical Practice Guideline."

Even though the Smokeout officially began in 1977, the event's roots reach back to 1971, when Arthur P. Mullaney challenged the citizens of Randolf, Massachusetts, to give up cigarettes for the day and donate the saved money to a high school scholarship fund. Mullaney coined the term Smokeout.

Later, Lynn R. Smith, editor of the Monticello Times in Minnesota, spearheaded that state's first D-Day, or Don't Smoke Day. D-Day spread like wildfire throughout Minnesota, and then blazed west to California where it became the Great American Smokeout.

For more information, please call your local health department or the American Cancer Society* or coalition at (phone number). The toll-free telephone number for the American Cancer Society is 1-800-ACS-2345.

November Media Events

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Brief history:

The Great American Smokeout: Even though the Smokeout officially began in 1977, the event's roots reach back to 1971, when Arthur P. Mullaney challenged the citizens of Randolf, Massachusetts to give up cigarettes for a day and donate the saved money to a high school scholarship fund. Mullaney coined the term Smokeout. Later, Lynn R. Smith, editor of the Monticello Times in Minnesota, spearheaded that state's first D-Day, or Don't Smoke Day. D-Day spread like wildfire throughout Minnesota, and then blazed west to California where it became the Great American Smokeout.