There will be 1 billion fewer cigarettes smoked and 274 million fewer cigarette butts littered, if nobody lights up today. People say it's hard to give up smoking, but isn't it harder to keep doing it? To continue smoking, you have to pay for cigarettes, always have a light, get rid of the ashes, and figure out what to do with the butt. Oh...and hope it doesn't kill you. May this one day off be the first day of the rest of your tobacco-free life.

TAKE ACTION TODAY

  1. Stop smoking—do it cold turkey. Don't light up! And if you chew tobacco, avoid even a pinch today. You can do it.
  2. Don't quit alone. Quit with a friend so that you can hold each other accountable.
  3. If necessary, use one of the many nicotine replacement therapies.
  4. If you are a nonsmoker, "adopt" a smoker. Support them by giving encouragement, exercising together, going out where there isn't likely to be smoking, and providing comfort and accountability.

FACTS

  • Nicotine is as addictive as heroin or cocaine.
  • 12 million deaths have been caused by cigarette smoking over the last 40 years.
  • 8.6 million people in the U.S. have at least one serious illness caused by smoking.
  • 80% of adult smokers started smoking before the age of 18.
  • Every day 4,000 people under the age of 18 try their first cigarette.
  • Every year $92 billion or more is spent on cigarette-related medical conditions—and nearly $97 billion worth of productivity is lost because of smoking.
  • Nicotine can be found in the umbilical cord blood of a fetus during pregnancy as well as in breast milk.
  • Smoking harms nearly every organ of your body.
  • 70% of smokers say they want to quit.
  • 91.2% of all successful long-term quitters quit cold turkey, without the assistance of patches, gum, hypnosis, acupuncture, inhalers, or prescriptions.
Excerpted from: Every Monday Matters: 52 Ways to Make a Difference by Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza. Copyright © 2008 Every Monday Matters LLC. Excerpted by permission of Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published 06/27/2010

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