KHI NEWS SERVICE
TOPEKA, Nov. 14
The Great American Smokeout, a national anti-smoking event now in its 31st year, is Thursday.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is marking the occasion by educating people about the dangers of secondhand smoke.
The department offers a 24-hour, toll-free Quitline to help tobacco users who want to quit.
“Quitting tobacco is tough, but it may very well save your life or someone else”s, perhaps that of a family member,” said KDHE Secretary Roderick Bremby. “That is why during this Great American Smokeout we are reminding smokers of the free help available to quit, while focusing on the dangers of secondhand smoke as a reason for people to quit.”
According to the Kansas Tobacco Use Prevention Program, non-smokers often inhale amounts of secondhand smoke equal to the amounts smokers are exposed to. For example:
* Living with a one-pack-a-day smoker, 24 hours a day, is like smoking three cigarettes a day.
* Working an eight-hour shift in a smoky bar is the same as smoking 16 cigarettes.
*
Sitting behind a smoker for three hours at a sporting event is like smoking one cigarette.
*
Working for eight hours in a smoker-friendly office is like smoking six cigarettes.
The 24-hour Kansas Tobacco Quitline is 1-866-KAN-STOP (1-866-526-7867).
Experienced quit coaches work with callers to prepare for a quit date and help them make a free personalized quit plan.
American Cancer Society researchers recently reported that reductions in tobacco smoking account for about 40 percent of the decrease in cancer death rates among men between 1991 and 2003, and have prevented at least 146,000 cancer deaths during that time.
The Kansas Tobacco Use Prevention Program provides resources and technical assistance to community coalitions for development of local tobacco prevention and cessation initiatives.
For additional information about the Kansas Tobacco Use Prevention Program visit
www.kdheks.gov/tobacco
. Visit
www.greatamericansmokeout.org
for more information about the Great American Smokeout.