“You don’t have to stop smoking in one day. Start with day one.” That is the mantra for the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout, an annual event on the third Thursday of November that falls on Nov. 16 this year.
ACS began GASO more than 40 years ago to encourage smokers nationwide to use the day to quit for just that day or as the first day of their cessation journey. Since then, organizations, businesses and individuals hold in-person and online informative and fun events on the day of GASO to give tobacco users free or inexpensive cessation resources and information as well as plenty of positive support.
GASO recognizes what we all know: quitting tobacco use is hard. We all know nicotine is one of most addictive substances in the world. Even though 70% of smokers want to quit, it takes an average of seven attempts before smokers quit for good. In addition, 90% of adult smokers began smoking by age 18. In New York state, the average age to start smoking is 13. As with any addictive substance, people who start using tobacco in adolescence will have a harder time quitting later in life than those who initiate it post-adolescence.
The normalization of tobacco use and abundance of tobacco retailers also make it difficult to avoid triggers. That’s why, aside from increasing the availability of cessation resources, one of the most effective ways to help people quit is to create tobacco-free environments where we live, learn, shop, work and play.
This means when municipalities, colleges and businesses in Delaware, Otsego and Schoharie counties introduce tobacco-free policies in public spaces such as parks, recreational areas, campuses and worksite grounds, they are creating environments that support smokers who want to quit and that encourage young people to never start. When apartment buildings adopt smoke- and vape-free indoor policies, they are not only preventing exposure to secondhand smoke, they are giving smokers more motivation to quit and giving young people a chance to grow up in a smoke-free home. Each tobacco-free space contributes to the building of a tobacco-free norm, which supports people’s cessation efforts, protects everyone’s health and prevents children from initiating tobacco use.
Communities can go further by developing policies that reduce or cap the number of tobacco retailers in a given area or changing zoning laws so that tobacco and vape retailers are not located near where children live or play. These measures would reduce children’s exposure to tobacco advertising and tobacco product displays in stores that are designed to make tobacco use attractive to kids. The more children are exposed to advertising and people using tobacco, whether in person or in media, the more likely they will become users.
It takes our communities working together on multiple fronts to make quitting tobacco — and never starting — more possible. It’s an effort that can lead to great reward, as smoking cigarettes is still the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the U.S.
While the average adult smoking rates have plummeted over the past decades nationally and in New York, certain population groups, often marginalized and vulnerable ones, smoke at higher rates and suffer the accompanying harmful effects more than others. Included among these groups are people with low socio-economic status, people in the LGBTQ+ community, and those living in rural areas. We see that in our region. Compared to New York City’s smoking rate of 9.8%, Delaware, Otsego and Schoharie counties had smoking rates of 16.1%, 18.3% and 20.3%, respectively, in 2021.
The New York State Smokers’ Quitline offers free and/or inexpensive nicotine replacement therapy and trained tobacco treatment specialists; call the Quitline at 1-866-NY-QUITS (1-866-697-8487), text QUITNOW to 333888, or visit nysmokefree.com.
The Wilmot Cancer Institute Quit Center offers free cessation resources and classes; call (585) 504-9461 or email quitcenter@urmc.rochester.edu to find out more. St. Peter’s Health Partners offers the free online course, “The Butt Stops Here;” for more information go to their website: The Butt Stops Here Albany, New York (NY), St. Peter’s Health Partners (sphp.com).