Quitting smoking isn’t easy but it is a fight you can win. By using at least one of the ways listed below for your quit attempt, you can double your chances of being successful. By using more than one of the ideas listed below, you double your chances of staying quit for good!

• Self help materials are available to help you quit smoking, no matter where you are in the process.  These materials can help you learn how to prepare for your quit attempt, develop strategies to help with cravings, and prevent relapse once you have quit. The self-help materials offer proven methods that are easy to follow and can keep your motivation high.
• Support programs can be in a variety of forms – group smoking cessation programs, telephone counseling programs, or support groups. To learn about the options available in your community, contact the American Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-2345 or www.cancer.org.
• Telephone counseling is a proven, confidential, counseling program completed by telephone that will support and help you stay focused on your reasons for quitting.
• Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) can relieve many of the nicotine withdrawal symptoms that occur when a person stops smoking. NRT can double a person’s chance of successfully quitting. Talk to your doctor about a strategy that might work for you.

Quick Tips
•Looking to boost your odds of successfully quitting tobacco? Smokers can boost the odds of a successful attempt at quitting tobacco when they have the right support. Counseling, nicotine replacement products, prescription medicine to lessen cravings, guide books, access to telephone-based tobacco cessation counseling like the American Cancer Society Quitline® Program, and encouragement from friends and family members are support methods that have proven to be successful.

• Within 20 minutes after a smoker quits smoking, his or her heart rate drops.
• Former smokers live longer than continuing smokers: people who quit smoking before age 50 have one-half the risk of dying in the next 15 years compared with continuing smokers.
• It is common for people who continue to smoke to gain weight. Therefore, weight gain should not be a deterrent of quitting smoking. The health benefits of quitting smoking far exceed any risks from the average five pound weight gain.
• About 87 percent of lung cancer deaths are caused by smoking. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women, and is one of the most difficult cancers to treat.

For more information on kicking your habit, call 1-800-ACS-2345 or log onto www.cancer.org/greatamericans.

Defining the Great American Smokeout
It’s a fact: all cancers caused by cigarette smoking could be prevented completely.

On Thursday, November 15, 2007, the American Cancer Society will urge all Americans using tobacco to stop using for the day and become aware of the many support methods available to help stay quit for good.

EOC urges its employees to take the single most important health step of their lives: quit using tobacco today!