Celebrate the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout by butting out. We're talking about extinguishing those cigarettes for good. Every year, the Great Smokeout is held on the third Thursday of November. {relatedarticles}To participate in this event, which went national in 1977, smokers take part by cutting back on the amount they smoke or by quitting altogether. The basic concept is that people quit smoking for the 24 hours of the Smokeout. It goes to show that even if you don't stop smoking permanently, you can at least make it through a day. It's a pretty lofty endeavor but one that can save a life. It's hard to believe that 1 in 3 cancer deaths are caused by smoking and that 8.6 million are suffering from a debilitating disease as the result of smoking. Despite those frightening statistics, the American Cancer Society estimates that 43 million people are still smoking.

In addition to calling upon people to refrain from lighting up, the American Cancer Society also uses the Great Smokeout as an opportunity to provide smokers with information about smoking cessation tools. {relatedarticles}These include nicotine replacement products, counseling, smoking cessation groups, smoking cessation hotlines, prescription medications used to combat cravings, guide books and a support network of friends and family members. According to the American Cancer Society, using two or more of these resources will garner the best results. Some people use a combination of several tools to put the habit to rest for good. To access telephone counseling, contact (800) ACS-2345 or visit cancer.org for more information. Remember, quitters don't just win... they live.