Every year on the 3rd Thursday in November smokers across the country participate in the American Cancer Society Great American Smokeout. It is a date to come together and say ‘no’ to tobacco on a grand scale. This may include not smoking the entire day, using the day to make a Quit Plan for the future or it may be your Quit Date! Join us on 11/15/2018!
Death from tobacco: Improved but still a problem
An estimated 40 million adults in the United States currently smoke cigarettes. Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the U.S., accounting for more than 480,000 deaths every year. To add some perspective, this number of deaths would equal three Boeing 747 planes crashing every day for one year, with no survivors. Although deaths from lung cancer have declined from 2003 to 2012, the number of preventable deaths remains striking. Also consider that smokers won’t die from lung cancer alone; more than 16 million Americans are living with a disease caused by smoking which is in part why on average, smokers die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers.
https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/adult_data/cig_smoking/
http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/lung/statistics/trends.htm
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1211128#t=article
Your death, their profit
In 2013 it was estimated that the global profit of the six leading tobacco companies was $44.1 billion, equal to the combined profits of Coca-Cola, Disney, General Mills, FedEx, AT&T, Google, McDonalds and Starbucks in the same year. Considering that worldwide 6.3 million people die from smoking-related illness each year, tobacco companies make a profit of $7000 for each death caused by tobacco. This money helps to cover the $900,000 an hour bill in the USA alone to market their products to not only adults but adolescents and youth.
Although tough, you CAN quit smoking!
With subtle yet powerful advertising combined with the addictive properties of smoking many feel overwhelmed in their efforts to quit smoking. In 2011 nearly 7 out of 10 adult smokers wanted to quit smoking and 4 out of 10 had made a quit attempt in the past year. There are effective and safe ways to quit smoking; to develop a personalized quit plan visit the Swedish Smoking Cessation website for detailed or to schedule a visit with one of our Certified Tobacco Treatment Specialists. Getting help through counseling or medications can double or triple the chances of quitting successfully.
http://www.swedish.org/services/thoracic-surgery/our-services/lung-cancer-screening-program/smoking-cessation
http://www.cancer.org/healthy/stayawayfromtobacco/greatamericansmokeout/
