You Can Quit(TM) Debuts on 25th Anniversary of the Great American Smokeout(R)
11/12/01
DENVER, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- You Can Quit(TM), a new smoking cessation
program, will debut on November 15, 2001, helping to mark the 25th anniversary
of the American Cancer Society's (ACS) Great American Smokeout(R). This new
ACS program is availab
An estimated 47 million adults in the United States currently smoke, and approximately half will die prematurely from smoking. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for men and women. This year alone, approximately 169,500 new cases will be diagnosed in the U.S. More than 80 percent of lung cancers are thought to result from smoking.
You Can Quit offers skills to help prevent relapse, as well as to help those who do suffer setbacks get back on track. Topics covered during the four-hour facilitator training include methods for quitting; withdrawal symptoms and what to do about them; lifestyle changes to make quitting easier; tools for coping with stress; relapse prevention and tips for facilitating a group support program.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, few smokers succeed the first time they try to quit. Because of tobacco's highly addictive nature, the average smoker makes anywhere from six to eleven attempts before becoming a long-term quitter.
"If I were to offer a single piece of advice to prospective quitters, it would be to keep trying," said Barbara Melin, director of health initiatives for the Rocky Mountain Division of ACS. "I failed to quit smoking eleven times before succeeding on my twelfth attempt. Every attempt brings you that much closer to success." Melin, who has authored a book about helping family and friends quit smoking, created You Can Quit for the American Cancer Society.
You Can Quit is based on the Prochaska DiClemente Stages of Change and other evidence based methods for behavior modification. It's suitable for businesses, clubs, religious groups and other organizational environments, as well as
individuals who want to learn more about tobacco and develop motivational skills for behavior change. The program is designed for use either with stop-smoking drugs or as a stand-alone group program.
Great American Smokeout History
The American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout grew out of a 1971 event in Randolph, Mass., in which 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, Lynn R. Smith, editor of the Monticello Times in Minnesota,
spearheaded the state's first D-Day, or Don't Smoke Day. The idea caught on, and on November 18, 1976, the California Division of the American Cancer Society succeeded in getting nearly one million smokers to quit for the day. That California event marked the first Smokeout, and it went
nationwide in 1977.
During the next 25 years, the Great American Smokeout was celebrated with rallies, parades, distribution of quitting information, and even "cold turkey" menu items in schools, workplaces, Main Streets, and legislative halls throughout the U.S.
In the past 25 years, the Great American Smokeout
has been chaired by some of America's most popular celebrities, including Sammy Davis, Jr.,
Edward Asner, Natalie Cole, Larry Hagman, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, the
first "spokespud," Mr. Potato Head (who gave up his pipe for the cause), and
many others.
The American Cancer Society will continue its efforts to eliminate lung
cancer, to inform people about the dangers of smoking, and to save lives by
providing the tools to help smokers quit.
To schedule a You Can Quit session for your company or organization or for
more information about the Great American Smokeout, call Barbara Melin at the
Rocky Mountain Division of the ACS at 303-758-2030.
The American Cancer Society is the nationwide, community-based, voluntary
health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem
by preventing cancer, saving lives and diminishing suffering from cancer
through research, education, advocacy and service.