The story of the Great American Smokeout

Today marks the 26th annual Great American Smokeout, which is recognized as a platform for educating the public on the dangers of tobacco use.

The event began in 1971 in Randolph, Mass., when Arthur P. Mullaney 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.

In 1974, the editor of a Minnesota newspaper spearheaded the first Don't Smoke Day. The idea caught on, and on Nov. 18, 1976, the California division of the American Cancer Society got 1 million smokers to quit for the day. The event went nationwide in 1977.

SOME STATISTICS

An estimated 47 million people in the United States smoke.

Tobacco use accounts for 30 percent of all cancer deaths and 87 percent of lung cancer deaths.

Secondhand smoke is likely the cause of 3,000 lung cancer deaths in nonsmoking adults.

Cigars contain more carcinogens than cigarettes.

Over 80 percent of smokers begin to smoke before age 18 and 35 percent of them had become daily smokers by age 18.

Smokers who quit before the age of 50 cut their risk of dying in the next 15 years in half, compared with those who continued to smoke.

SOURCE: American Cancer Society data

Kicking the habit

On the Net:

American Cancer Society: www.cancer.org

American Lung Association: www.lungusa.org