Make The Great American Smokeout Your Quit Day With EX®

Take Charge of Addiction by Making a Plan to Quit

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- During November's Lung Cancer Awareness Month, the Great American Smokeout serves as another important reminder about the deadly addiction of tobacco that impacts the 45 million Americans who smoke. In 2010, approximately 69 percent of smokers said they wanted to quit, but only about six percent of smokers were successful long-term. EX® offers a free way to seek help and break the smoking addiction.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101101/DC86294LOGO)

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 helping the 45 million Americans who smoke to finally quit. EX is a national quit smoking campaign, spearheaded by Legacy®, a national public health foundation located in Washington, D.C.

"The prevalence of quit attempts has increased from 2001 to 2010 among those aged 25-64 and we aim to increase that figure in the months and years to come," said Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, president and CEO of Legacy. "EX provides free personalized quit plans at www.BecomeAnEX.org and we encourage smokers who want to quit, to 'seize the day' and plan a quit attempt in observance of the Great American Smokeout."

EX provides free evidence-based online 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.

Because social support is so important, BecomeAnEX.org is 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, more than two million people have visited the site and approximately 500,000 people have joined the online community, forming nearly 400 customized support groups. EX tools were designed in collaboration with Mayo Clinic and with input from former and current smokers who have lived with this struggle, in order to provide smokers with a realistic approach based on evidence based research.

Quitting smoking is ultimately one of the single most important lifestyle changes one can make to improve and extend their lives. Tobacco-related death is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States; smokers therefore need 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. While smokers may know why they should quit, many just don't know how. Therefore, EX steers away from focusing solely on the reasons for quitting and instead empowers smokers to use free resources and methods that have been proven to increase smokers' chances of quitting successfully.

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 Web site 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 Web site 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