THE SHOALS-November 21 marks the 38th Great American Smokeout. On this day, the American Cancer Society (ACS) encourages all tobacco users to quit. Even though there are more people in the U.S. who have quit smoking than are current smokers, more than 45 million Americans are still tobacco users.
According to The Tobacco Atlas, published by ACS and the World Lung Foundation, 
an estimated one billion people worldwide will die during the 21st century because of tobacco use. “Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the United States,” said Melanie Dickens, Tobacco Prevention and Control Coordinator for Alabama Department of Public Health. Quitting tobacco use is the most important thing you can do for your health and the Great American Smokeout is a great way to start.”
Tobacco use accounts for at least 30 percent of all cancer deaths and 87 percent of lung cancer deaths, according to ACS. In the U.S., tobacco use is responsible for nearly one in five deaths, or about 443,000 premature deaths each year. Smokers who quit, regardless of age, live longer than people who continue to smoke. Just 20 minutes after quitting smoking, heart rate and blood pressure drops, and in about one to nine months after quitting, coughing and shortness of breath decreases.
Tobacco users can call the Alabama Tobacco Quitline at 1-800-QUIT NOW
(1-800-784-8669) for free help to quit. The Quitline offers individualized counseling and two weeks of free nicotine patches to those medically eligible who begin the counseling process. Quitline services are also available at www.Alabamaquitnow.com.
In Alabama, the consequences of smoking are devastating. More than 7,600 Alabamians die each year as a result of tobacco use, and 800 more die from exposure to secondhand smoke. According to the 2011 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System for Alabama, 24 percent of adults are smokers. About 31 percent of state high school students smoke, according to the 2012 Alabama Youth Tobacco Survey.
