There are many good reasons to quit smoking, and the American Cancer Society hopes you’ll take them to heart Thursday during the 33rd Great American Smokeout. The day is observed annually to encourage smokers to either quit cold turkey or make a plan to gradually phase out their nicotine habit.

It’s an addiction like any other addiction,” said Mary Katherine Walker, an ACS communications and marketing specialist. “It’s a physical thing. We don’t want to say everybody should quit on that day because it’s not easy.”

Tobacco use is the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in this country, according to statistics provided by ACS. Smoking accounts for an estimated 438,000 premature deaths each year, including 38,000 deaths among nonsmokers as a result of secondhand smoke.

Smoking is the cause of at least 30 percent of all cancer deaths and 87 percent of lung cancer deaths, and is associated with increased risk for at least 15 types of cancer including cervix, oral cavity and kidney.

Walker said quitting should be a top priority.

“We have many tools and resources to help you quit,” she said, suggesting smokers either call the ACS Quitline at (800) ACS-2345, or visit www.cancer.org/greatamericans to learn what can be done to shake the smoking habit.

The Quitline can more than double a person’s chance of quitting tobacco through free and confidential telephone counseling, according to Walker. The interactive Web site offers tips that include some of the ways friends, family and coworkers of smokers can be aware and supportive of the struggle to quit.

Popular online social networks such as MySpace and Facebook are fast becoming support channels for people who want to quit, and American Cancer Society Smokeout-related downloadable desktop applications are available on these networks to help people quit or join the fight against tobacco.

“Prepare for a life as a nonsmoker,” Walker said. “Recognize your smoker’s routine and the signs (that you want to pick up another cigarette).”

Barbara White of Bay Minette has been a nonsmoker for nearly 30 years, and is all too familiar with what cigarettes can do. White, who will coincidentally turn 56 on Thursday, was diagnosed with lung cancer in September 2002, and was given only an 11 percent chance of survival.

“I’m one of God’s miracles,” she said. “Lung cancer is not (necessarily) a death sentence anymore.” White warned the battle against the disease is not easy, however.

She received nine months of chemotherapy treatments during her illness, had numerous lymph nodes removed and underwent a wedge resection, where doctors removed a section of diseased lung and pieced the remainder back together.

“The chemotherapy was horrendous,” White said. “I was in bed 90 percent of the time and lost my hair. The chemo left my brain in a fog so it’s sometimes hard to focus, and killed the nerve endings in my feet and hands. I also don’t breathe as well as I once did.”

Since it’s widely known smoking is so bad for you, why would anyone light up to begin with?

White said, “I started smoking at 13 to be part of the in crowd. You had to smoke if you were going to be cool.”

Many of her teenage friends smoked, and White said she often had to resort to stealing cigarettes from her mother or have an older friend buy them for her.

White preferred menthol smokes until she quit at 27, but ironically she didn’t inhale initially.

“You bum a cigarette here and there to look cool, but I heard someone say ‘I hate people who bum cigarettes and won’t inhale,’ so I learned how to inhale,” she said. “That’s when you get hooked.”

One of White’s sisters urged her to stop smoking, but it took the development of a constant cough to finally motivate her to quit.

“I started realizing I had (health) problems because of it,” she said. “People started telling me my clothes smelled.”

Although not Catholic, White chose Lent to give up cigarettes, and is glad she did. She added, “I don’t think of it as a success because I still want to smoke, but with cancer, I’m never going to smoke again.”

Like so many former smokers, White now has what she calls a hypersensitivity to smoking, and is on the front lines of the battle against tobacco.

The Relay for Life (call 251-621-7996 for dates and locations in your area) supporter said, “I’ve gone to Montgomery to lobby for a Smoke Free Alabama. I’ve held petition drives and I’m chair of the American Cancer Society Baldwin County advocacy committee.”

Smoke-free laws at the state and local level, as well as higher tobacco taxes make it harder for people to light up, and protect nonsmokers from tobacco smoke, according to ACS.

Walker said, “If you do want to smoke, go outside. Secondhand smoke is just as deadly as smoking. If you’re smoking at a bar or restaurant or your workplace, it can hurt someone else.”

Secondhand smoke is the third most preventable cause of death in the United States. In Alabama alone, as many as 1,190 people die from exposure to secondhand smoke every year.

ACS urges folks to follow White’s lead and become grassroots advocates for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network to support the passage of laws that can create smoke-free communities and help smokers quit.

“You ask people to stop smoking because you love the person, even though it might make them mad,” Walker said. “Sit down and have an honest conversation with them. Tobacco is not safe in any amount.”

There is some good news about smoking. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta reported last week that the number of adult cigarette smokers in the U.S. has declined for the first time in four years.

The CDC indicated there were 43.4 million current smokers in the U.S. (19.8 percent) in 2007 — a 1 percent decline from the 20.8 percent in 2006. The findings are based on data from the 2007 National Health Interview Survey and were published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

“These data tell us we have made exceptional progress in the effort to reduce and eventually eliminate the death, disease, and economic challenges that tobacco use brings on its users,” stated Thomas J. Glynn PhD, ACS director of cancer science and trends and international cancer control. “Adult tobacco user prevalence is now under 20 percent for the first time since tobacco use rates began to fall during the mid-1960s. This year’s decline may especially reflect the efforts in recent years to raise cigarette prices through higher taxation and to increase quit attempts (and to protect nonsmokers) through more widespread support for smoke-free environments, the effects of which may take several years to measure.”

Numbers were notably down for two subgroups: blacks (smoking declined from 23.0 percent in 2006 to 19.8 percent in 2007) and adults over 65 (10.2 percent in 2006 to 8.3 percent in 2007).

However, the report showed that significant disparities continue to persist by race/ethnicity and education level. American Indian and Alaska Natives continue to smoke in large numbers (36.4 percent smoked in 2007), as do people with GEDs and those below the poverty level.

The Great American Smokeout was begun in 1976 to inspire and encourage smokers to quit for one day. Now, 44.2 percent of the 45.3 million Americans who smoke have attempted to quit for at least one day in the past year, and the Great American Smokeout remains a great opportunity to encourage people to commit to making a long-term plan to quit for good.

Five helpful ACS strategies to help you quit

1. Prepare for life as a nonsmoker. Remove all cigarette-related materials such as ashtrays, lighters, matches, cigarettes and cigarette butts, etc. from your office and your home. This will help you avoid temptation.

2. Urges last a few minutes at most, so practice the four Ds:

a. DEEP breaths.

b. DO something else to get your mind off the craving. Call a friend, go for a walk, or chew on a carrot stick.

c. DRINK lots of water throughout the day, especially during a craving.

d. DELAY reaching for a cigarette — the urge will pass.

3. Change your routines. For example, if you light up with a cup of coffee, switch to tea, soda or juice. If you smoke while you watch the evening news, read a newspaper instead.

4. Recognize that urges are the worst within the first two weeks of your life as a nonsmoker. After that, your chances of smoking again will most likely occur in situations associated with smoking such as after dinner or during car rides. While it may difficult and nearly impossible to avoid some of these situations, try to avoid as many of them as you can. If you can’t, tell people you’ve just quit or that you’re a nonsmoker.

5. Use all the resources available to you. Nicotine patches, gums, and lozenges are a few over-the-counter options while nicotine nasal spray and inhaler and other smoking cessation medications are available via a doctor’s prescription. Additionally, toll-free help lines, such as the American Cancer Society’s Quitline and online programs are at your disposal for information and support. Your employer and/or medical insurance plan may also offer a cessation program — check with your company’s human resources and benefits department.

Remember that most smokers will have to try several methods before they succeed in quitting, so don’t be discouraged and keep trying until you find what works for you.