Hill-Evans hosts conference to encourage tobacco cessation

York, Nov. 17 – State Rep. Carol Hill-Evans, D-York, partnered with Tobacco Free York County and the Healthy York County Coalition to host a conference encouraging participation in the Great American Smokeout.

“Quitting addictive substances like nicotine isn’t easy. If we can help our residents live healthier lives without vices such as cigarettes, these efforts will have been worth it,” Hill-Evans said. “Cigarettes kill approximately half of a million Americans a year and plague another 16 million with smoking-related diseases. This is a public health issue and needs to be treated as such.”

The Great American Smokeout was started by the American Cancer Society in 1976. Every year on the third Thursday of November, America’s 40 million smokers are encouraged to quit, make a plan to quit or forego cigarettes for the day.

Tobacco Free York County started encouraging tobacco cessation in the late nineties and has since partnered with many local organizations to collaborate and maximize tobacco cessation and prevention efforts county wide. Alongside the Healthy York County Coalition, these organizations joined Hill-Evans to offer resources to help smokers in York put out their cigarettes once and for all.

Hill-Evans said a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that nearly 70 percent of American adult smokers say they want to quit, and 52 percent have tried to quit within the past year. 

"Encouragement from others and joining in a nationwide effort can be a great incentive to take that first step," Hill-Evans said. "The more we do to call attention to the resources available to help people quit, the healthier we’ll be as individuals and as a society."

Editors: Video of event can be found here: Hill-Evans Great American Smokeout 2022 - YouTube