Letters & Opinion
Letter to the Editor - Great American Smokeout
I am writing to encourage students and staff at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point to embrace the Great American Smokeout next Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008. The first Great American Smokeout was in 1976 and since then, has inspired smokers nationwide to quit for at least one day. Now, the American Cancer Society encourages smokers to not just quit for the day, but choose Nov. 20 this year as their quit date – for good.
A variety of resources are available from the American Cancer Society. If you’re interested in a free, confidential chat-session with a trained counselor, you can call the ACS Quitline at 1-800-227-2345. Studies have shown that the Quitline can more than double your chances of successfully quitting.
You surely know the obvious dangers of smoking, but the American Cancer Society provides some interesting statistics: “Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the United States. Each year, smoking accounts for an estimated 438,000 premature deaths, including 38,000 deaths among nonsmokers as a result of secondhand smoke. Half of all Americans who continue to smoke will die from smoking-related diseases.”
The reality of death from smoking does not just affect older adults. Your choices now affect your health for the rest of your life. Take this example from ACS research: “Of the 15 million college students in the United States today, it is estimated that 1.7 million will die of smoking-related illnesses, most prematurely (Halperin, 2002). That amounts to more than 10 percent of current college students.”
More information about the Smokeout and help for quitting can be found at www.cancer.org or by calling the Quitline. If you’re interested in joining the fight against cancer at UW-SP, get involved with Colleges Against Cancer. Feel free to contact me with any questions or for additional information.
Enjoy your smoke-free Nov. 20!
Stacie Simpson
Colleges Against Cancer
