Great American Smokeout 30th Anniversary Overview/Statistics

This year's Great American Smokeout will be held on Thursday, November 16, 2006. Statistical references are from the American Cancer Society's Cancer Facts & Figures, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

History

• In 1971, Arthur P. Mullaney created an event in Randolph, Massachusetts, which asked people to give up cigarettes for a day and donate the money they would have spent on cigarettes to a high school scholarship fund.
• On Thursday, November 18, 1976, the California Division of the American Cancer Society got nearly one million of the state’s five million smokers to quit for the day on the Great American Smokeout
• The first national Great American Smokeout as held on the third Thursday of November in 1977.
• The American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout has been chaired by some of America’s most popular celebrities, including Sammy Davis, Jr., Edward Asner, Natalie Cole, Larry Hagman, and Surgeon General C. Everett Koop. The event has helped millions of Americans quit by proving they can quit for a day and therefore, they can quit for a lifetime.