Great American Smokeout is November 17th

Cigarette smokers are urged to try and quit today (Thursday) as part of the annual Great American Smokeout.  The editor of the Monticello Times newspaper promoted the first ‘Don’t Smoke Day’ in 1974, promising to publish the names of 300 people who pledged to quit cigarettes for one day. Studies show the average person has to try seven times before they quit smoking for good.  The Minnesota Department of Health says 13-point-eight percent of adults smoke and just under five percent use e-cigarettes.  The American Cancer Society says smoking causes an estimated 480-thousand deaths a year in the U-S.