美国戒烟日定在11月19日：美国癌症协会呼吁吸烟者把这一天定为戒烟起点
美国癌症协会主办的美国戒烟日今年定在11月19日星期四，这是每年11月的第三个星期四。该协会举办这一活动已近50年，宗旨不是要求吸烟者一天之内彻底戒掉，而是鼓励他们把这一天当作起点，提前定好戒烟计划，或在当天正式开始执行。
协会公布的数字说明了戒烟的紧迫性：吸烟和二手烟暴露每年在美国造成超过480,000人死亡，吸烟会增加至少12种癌症的风险，在美国约每10例癌症死亡中就有3例由吸烟引起，在南部和阿巴拉契亚部分地区这一比例更高。协会同时提醒，无论年龄多大、烟龄多长，戒烟都能立即改善部分健康指标，长期好处更大。
这一活动的源头可以追溯到1970年Massachusetts州Randolph的一场活动，当地人Arthur P. Mullaney请吸烟者停烟一天并把省下的烟钱捐作高中奖学金。1976年11月18日，该协会加州分会让近100万人停烟一天，成为首届正式戒烟日，1977年起推广到全美。此后各地的无烟法规和社区戒烟项目陆续跟进，公众对烟草的态度也随之改变。
协会说，戒烟很难，但有计划和支持能显著提高成功率，把咨询与药物结合使用，可以让成功戒烟的机会翻倍甚至达到三倍。需要帮助的人可以访问cancer.org/smokeout查看戒烟资源，或拨打1-800-227-2345，该协会提供全天候支持，协助寻找全国和本地的戒烟服务。（来源：美国癌症协会）
Great American Smokeout Set for November 19 as the American Cancer Society Urges Smokers to Make a Quit Plan
The American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout falls this year on Thursday, November 19, the third Thursday of November. The society has hosted the event for almost 50 years, and its purpose is not to demand that smokers quit in a single day, but to encourage them to use the date to make a plan to quit, or to plan in advance and start a cessation plan on the day itself.
The society's figures show why quitting matters: smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke cause more than 480,000 deaths in the United States every year, smoking increases the risk of at least 12 different cancers, and in the U.S. about 3 of every 10 cancer deaths are caused by cigarette smoking, a share that is higher in parts of the South and Appalachia. The society also notes that no matter a person's age or how long they have smoked, quitting improves some aspects of health immediately and even more over the long term.
The event grew from a 1970 gathering in Randolph, Massachusetts, where Arthur P. Mullaney asked people to give up cigarettes for a day and donate the money they would have spent to a high school scholarship fund. On November 18, 1976, the California Division of the American Cancer Society got nearly 1 million people who smoke to quit for the day, marking the first official Smokeout, and the society took it nationwide in 1977. Community programs and smoke-free laws followed in the years since.
Quitting is difficult, the society says, but a good plan and support raise the odds: getting help through counseling and medications doubles or even triples a person's chances of quitting successfully. Help is available at cancer.org/smokeout and by calling 1-800-227-2345, where the society provides support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from questions about quitting to finding national and local resources. (Source: American Cancer Society)
来源：美国癌症协会
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：烟灰缸里的一支香烟（Kiwiev 摄，Wikimedia Commons，CC0公共领域）。 / Photo: A cigarette resting in an ashtray, by Kiwiev, Wikimedia Commons (CC0 public domain).
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