Today is the Great American Smokeout Day!
The year was 1977 when the American Cancer Society decided to take what had been a “grass roots” quit smoking idea and create the Great American Smokeout Day. So on the third Thursday of every November the American Cancer Society encourages people who smoke to consider quitting just for a day, or to make a commitment to plan to quit. You might be familiar with this “day”…but just in case here is a quick history of how it all came to be.
Looking back to 1970
The American Cancer Society’s website offers the following historical information.
- In 1970 Arthur P. Mullany asked the people of Randolph, Massachusetts to give up cigarettes just for one day. The money they would normally have spent on cigarettes in that day was to be donated to a high school scholarship fund.
- In 1974 the editor of the Monticello Times in Minnesota, Lynn R. Smith, suggested and promoted Minnesota’s first D-Day, commonly known as the Don’t Smoke Day.
- In 1976, the California Division of the American Cancer Society convinced 1 million smokers to quit for the day. They called it the Great American Smokeout.
- Finally, in 1977 the American Cancer Society took the program nationwide.
Here’s an infographic that outlines “the true cost of smoking”
Quitting isn’t easy…
For as often as we have published posts about smoking, we always acknowledge that quitting smoking isn’t easy. Today we are providing a number of related articles which will offer varied information about what activities are planned around the nation to help individuals to quit smoking.
Always remember that it is possible to quit smoking and you can do it one day at a time.
