American Cancer Society Hosts The Great American Smokeout

The American Cancer Society's (ASC) volunteers and staff hold the Great American Smokeout every year to help smokers quit cigarettes for at least on day, in hopes they will quit forever. More people quit smoking on this day than any other day of the year.

History of the Great American Smokeout

In 1971, Arthur P. Mullaney created an event in Randolph, Mass., asking 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 just five years, the event spread across the country, and in California, one million of the state's five million smokers quit for the day on the "Great American Smokeout."

The American Cancer Society organized the first national Great American Smokeout in 1977, when smokers tried to quit for on day to prove that they could do it. Each year, more Americans try to quit smoking on the day of the Great American Smokeout than any other day of the year--including New Year's Day.

The Great American Smokeout takes place each year on the third Thursday of November. Millions of Americans will stub out their cigarettes on the day. Join with then and make the Great American Smokeout the first day of your smoke-free life!

For more information about community-based activities planned for the Great American Smokeout, contact Plumas County Public Health Agency at 1-800-801-6330 or (530) 283-6427.