The Fidelis Care Blog

Start Your Journey to a Smoke-Free Life

11/16/2023 • Posted by Dr. Nicole Belanger-Reynolds, Fidelis Care Medical Director, and Dr. Camille Pearte, Fidelis Care Senior Medical Director in Health and Wellness, Heart Health

Great-American-Smoke-Out

The Great American Smokeout is held each year on the third Thursday of November and encourages smokers across the nation to quit smoking. Sponsored by the American Cancer Society, this year’s Great American Smokeout is on November 16.

Cigarette smoking remains the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the United States. About 1.7 million New Yorkers continue to smoke cigarettes. Every year in New York, smoking kills 21,000 adults. Another 1,400 New Yorkers die every year from exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke.

No matter your age or how long you have been smoking, quitting improves both your short- and long-term health.

Health Benefits of Quitting:

Add up to 10 years of life expectancy.
Lowers risk of 12 types of cancer.
Lowers risk of the lung disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). If you have COPD, quitting smoking slows the disease’s progression and reduces the loss of lung function over time.
Lowers risk of heart disease and stroke. If you have heart disease, quitting smoking can lower your risk of premature death, getting a new type of heart disease, or having another heart attack.
If you are pregnant, quitting smoking as early as possible can help protect against serious health problems for developing babies, such as being born too small or too early.

Quitting smoking can be difficult. Here are some tips you can use to set yourself up for success!

Set a Date for Your Quit Day

Once you decide to quit, you are ready to pick a quit date. Choose the day of the Great American Smokeout (November 16, 2023) or another day within the next 2 weeks. Circle the date on your calendar. Make a strong, personal commitment to quit on that day.

Prepare for Your Quit Day

Tell your family and friends about your quit day. Share your quit date with the important people in your life. Ask family and friends who use tobacco to not use it around you.
Remove cigarettes and other tobacco from your home, car, and workplace. Throw away your cigarettes, matches, lighters, and ashtrays. Clean and freshen your car, home, and workplace. Old cigarette odors can cause cravings.
Stock up on oral substitutes. You might try sugarless gum, carrot sticks, hard candy, cinnamon sticks, coffee stirrers, straws, and/or toothpicks.
Decide on a plan. Nicotine patches, gum, or other approved, quit-smoking medicines can help. Talk to your doctor about what might work best for you.
Get the support you need. In-person quit programs, advice from trusted health care professionals, telephone quit lines, phone reminder apps, Nicotine Anonymous meetings, self-help materials such as books and pamphlets, and counselors can help.
Separate smoking from other activities like sipping warm drinks, sitting down, watching TV, and socializing.
Cut down. Cut down on the number of cigarettes you smoke each day or the amount you dip or chew each day. This can slowly reduce the amount of nicotine in your body. Try cutting back to half of your usual amount before your quit date. Notice when your cravings are the worst and what triggers your cravings. Leave your tobacco supply at home and try your oral substitutes instead.
Put off using tobacco when you have a craving. The urge to smoke is short—usually lasting only 3 to 5 minutes—but those moments can feel intense. Go as long as you can without giving into a craving.
Practice saying, “No thank you. I don’t use tobacco.”

On Your Quit Day

Do not use tobacco.
Use nicotine replacement.
Drink lots of water. Drink less alcohol or avoid it completely.
Avoid people who use tobacco.
Avoid situations where the urge to use tobacco is strong.
Stay busy. Move around and exercise.
Change your routine. Pick different foods to eat for breakfast. Drink tea instead of coffee. Use a different route to get to work. Take a walk during breaks.
Get coaching by attending a quit smoking class, call a quitline, or sign up for text message support.

If you vape, consider using the Great American Smokeout as your own Great American Vapeout.

E-cigarettes are falsely marketed as a “safe” alternative to cigarettes and other tobacco products. However, e-cigarette aerosol is not just harmless water vapor. E-cigarettes, or vapes, are electronic devices that produce aerosols. Such aerosol can contain nicotine, lead, cancer-causing chemicals, or very fine particles that may affect lung or heart function when inhaled.

Here are some important statistics regarding e-cigarettes and vaping:

According to the 2022 New York Youth Tobacco Survey, 14.1% of high school students and 3.3% of middle school students reported current e-cigarette use. Young people who use e-cigarettes may be more likely to smoke cigarettes in the future.
In New York state, 10.6% of adults between the ages of 18 to 24 years used e-cigarettes in 2020.
According to the CDC, e-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among American youths. In fact, in 2022, 2.55 million U.S. middle and high school students used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days.

The CDC advises that e-cigarettes or vaping products should never be used by youths, young adults, or women who are pregnant. Further, adults who do not currently use tobacco products should not start using e-cigarette, or vaping, products.

New York State Smokers' Quitline provides free and confidential services that include information, tools, quit coaching, and support in both English and Spanish. You can get information, chat online with a Quit Coach, or sign up for Learn2QuitNY, a six-week, step-by-step text messaging program to build the skills you need to quit any tobacco product. Contact the Quitline in the following ways: