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November 2013
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Great American Smokeout
Sample News Release
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Date:
Phone:
Annual Great American Smokeout Slated for November 21
The American Cancer Society has scheduled the Great American Smokeout (GASO) for November 21, 2013, 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. Information also is available on the American Cancer Society's Web site at www.cancer.org.
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Contact Us:
- CDC/Office on Smoking and Health
4770 Buford Highway
MS F-79
Atlanta, Georgia 30341-3717 - 800-CDC-INFO
(800-232-4636)
TTY: (888) 232-6348
8am–8pm ET
Monday–Friday
Closed Holidays - tobaccoinfo@cdc.gov
