Smokers across the nation are being urged today to kick the habit.
Today marks the 32nd annual Great American Smokeout. Laurie Pagel with the American Cancer Society says it's an event aimed at giving smokers the push they need to quit.
The event was started as a way to encourage smokers to give up the habit for just one day, then providing the resources they need to keep from smoking again. That help includes access to counseling, smoking cessation medications, and tobacco quit lines.
The ACS runs its own tobacco Quitline at 1-800-227-2345. The Wisconsin Tobacco Quitline is also available at 1-800-QUIT-NOW. Both offer access to counseling and additional support for those callers looking to quit.
Pagel says national smoking rates are below 20-percent for the first time since the 1960s, but she believes there's still a long way to go. Tobacco use remains the number one cause of cancer deaths for men and women.
