Newsgram

Every year, on the third Thursday of November, smokers across the nation take part in the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout event. Encourage someone you know to use the date to make a plan to quit, or plan in advance and then quit smoking that day. By quitting -- even for one day -- smokers will be taking an important step toward a healthier life and reducing their cancer risk.

According to the American Cancer Society, about 36.5 million Americans still smoke cigarettes, and tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the world. While cigarette smoking rates have dropped (from 42% in 1965 to 15.1% in 2015), cigar, pipe, and hookah -- other dangerous and addictive ways to smoke tobacco -- are very much on the rise. Smoking kills people -- there's no "safe" way to smoke tobacco.

Quitting is hard, but you can increase your chances of success with help. Getting help through counseling or medications can double or triple the changes of quitting successfully. Quitting smoking is not easy, but you can do it.

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