Make Great American Smoke Out Your Quit Day With EX®

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Nov 15, 2010, 08:00 ET

Time to Take Charge of Addiction and Seek Quit Support

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Great American Smoke Out serves as an annual powerful reminder of the negative impact of tobacco; a deadly addiction that impacts the more than 46 million Americans who smoke and the 440,000 who lose their lives to it every year. Approximately 70 percent of smokers say they want to quit each year, but only about five percent of smokers are successful long-term. EX® offers a free way to seek help and break the smoking addiction.

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With the latest research estimating that nearly six million people worldwide will lose their lives to tobacco this year, EX takes an innovative approach to help smokers "re-learn" life without cigarettes. Spearheaded by Legacy(SM), EX is a national quit smoking campaign that provides evidence-based tools to help smokers quit, including information that can help them prepare for a quit attempt by:

1) "Re-learning" their thinking on the behavioral aspects of smoking and how different smoking triggers can be overcome with practice and preparation;

2) "Re-learning" their knowledge of addiction and how medications can increase their chances for quitting success; and

3) "Re-learning" their ideas of how support from friends and family members can play a critical role in quitting.

"Tobacco-related disease is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States which makes it vital for smokers to be armed with all the available information to make the best, most informed choices about the smoking cessation medications and resources available to them," said Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, president and CEO of Legacy. "Quitting smoking is one of the single most important lifestyle changes people can make to improve and extend their lives. The Great American Smoke Out is an annual challenge that gives millions of Americans added reason to quit and beat the addiction for good."

Because social support is so important for a smoker trying to quit, EX uses a state-of-the-art Web site (www.BecomeAnEX.org) as a convening point for smokers who want to quit and collaborate on their successes and challenges in the difficult quit process. Since March 2008, when the program first debuted, over a million people have visited the site and more than 22,000 smokers have joined the online community, forming more than 300 customized support groups. In order to provide smokers with a realistic approach rooted in evidence-based research, EX tools were designed in collaboration with Mayo Clinic and with input from former and current smokers who have lived with this struggle.

Visit www.BecomeAnEX.org to download a personalized quit plan and join the community.

EX® is a collaborative public health campaign presented by the National Alliance for Tobacco Cessation, a partnership of the nation's leading public health organizations and states. The campaign helps smokers prepare to quit and guides them to useful resources that foster successful quit attempts including the EX plan, a free personalized quit plan available on the campaign's website www.BecomeAnEX.org. EX is the culmination of several years of research and testing, combining an understanding of the power of nicotine addiction with messages that resonate with and motivate smokers toward behavior change. The EX approach is peer to peer and focuses on "re-learning life without cigarettes" by encouraging smokers to think differently about the process of quitting. The campaign, which began airing nationwide in March 2008, includes television, radio, online and out-of-home advertising. The EX website helps smokers create their own individual plan to quit and connects them to a virtual community of other smokers where they can share stories and strategies about quitting. Founding members of the NATC include numerous states and the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the National Cancer Institute, the American Legacy Foundation, C-Change, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and clinical partner, the Mayo Clinic.

SOURCE Legacy