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Great American Smokeout Day

MMWR Highlights

November 5, 1999  / Vol. 48 / No. 43


  • On Thursday, November 18, 1999, the American Cancer Society (ACS) will sponsor its annual "Great American Smokeout" (GASO) to encourage approximately 52 million adult and adolescent smokers in the United States to quit smoking for at least one day.
  • About 70 percent (33.2 million) adults want to quit smoking completely, but because of the addictive nature of nicotine many smokers find it difficult to quit.
  • Each year, an estimated 1.2 million (2.5 percent) adult smokers successfully quit smoking permanently.
  • Nearly three-quarters (72.9 percent) of adolescent smokers who have ever smoked cigarettes daily have attempted to quit; however, among those, the vast majority (86.5 percent) continue to smoke, most likely because of the addictive nature of nicotine.
  • Several methods are available that can help smokers quit. There are nicotine replacement products available by prescription (inhaler and nasal spray) and over-the-counter -- the gum and the patch -- to help smokers quit. Buproprion has also proven to have a positive effect for smokers wanting to quit. These products have nearly doubled smokers ability to successfully quit.
  • Smokers who quit before age 50 have half the risk of dying in the next 15 years compared with those who continue to smoke.
  • Benefits of cessation include risk reduction for other major diseases including coronary heart disease and cardiovascular disease. The excess risk of heart disease caused by smoking is reduced by half after one year of quitting.
  • After 10 years, the risk of lung cancer for exsmokers drops to 30-50 percent that of continuing smokers.
  • In 5 to 15 years, the risk of stroke for exsmokers returns to the level of those who have never smoked.
  • Former smokers are also less likely to die of chronic lung disease, such as emphysema, than those who continue to smoke.
  • Former smokers have better health status than current smokers--fewer days of illness, fewer health complaints, better health status, and reduced rates of bronchitis and pneumonia.

*  Links to non-Federal organizations are provided solely as a service to our users. Links do not constitute an endorsement of any organization by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. The CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at this link.


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This page last reviewed April 11, 2003

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