NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Date:
Phone:
Annual Great American Smokeout Slated for November 19
The American Cancer Society has scheduled the Great American Smokeout (GASO) for November
19, 2009, to encourage smokers to quit for a day in the
hope they may quit for good.
The following events will take place: (list events e.g., Gene's restaurant
will go smoke free and offer "cold turkey" subs).
Pharmacotherapies, behavioral therapies, and counseling—including telephone
counseling—can help patients quit and increase their chances of not relapsing.
Even though GASO officially began in 1977, the event's roots reach
back to 1971, when Arthur P. Mullaney challenged the citizens of Randolf, Massachusetts,
to give up cigarettes for the day and donate the saved money to a high school
scholarship fund. Mullaney coined the term Smokeout.
Later, Lynn R. Smith, editor of the Monticello Times in Minnesota,
spearheaded that state's first D-Day, or Don't Smoke Day. D-Day spread like
wildfire throughout Minnesota and then blazed west to California, where it became
the Great American Smokeout.
For more information, call (your local health department, the
American Cancer Society, or coalition) at (phone number). The toll-free telephone
number for the American Cancer Society is 1-800-ACS-2345.
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= Link to nonfederal Web site