Events on UF campus Thursday will offer help to quit tobacco use

November 15, 2011

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida will mark the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout Thursday, with events in the atrium at Shands at UF medical center and elsewhere on campus.

UF organizations such as the Tobacco-Free Task Force, Area Health Education Centers Program, GatorWell Health Promotion Services, College of Dentistry, AMSA Health Outreach and Education, Shands at UF medical center, and Eta Sigma Gamma will promote the Great American Smokeout and provide tobacco education and cessation materials.

At many of the event locations, carbon monoxide monitors will be available to provide smokers their carbon monoxide levels to give them a visual representation of the effects that smoking has on their bodies.

The events also will educate staff and students about available free tobacco cessation services, including counseling and quit medications such as nicotine patches, lozenges and gum.

The event in the atrium at Shands at UF medical center will be from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., while events elsewhere on campus will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout went nationwide in November 1977 asking people to give up cigarettes for a day and donate those funds to a charitable organization or scholarship.

“The Great American Smokeout is a great time for smokers to designate as either their quit day or as a day they can use to develop their plan to quit. It is also an opportune time for the University to let tobacco users know about the free counseling services and nicotine replacement products we can provide to help with their efforts,” said Kathy Nichols, co-chair of the UF Tobacco-Free Task Force and assistant director of the UF Area Health Education Centers Program.

The Great American Smokeout is held each year on the third Thursday of November during Lung Cancer Awareness Month. It encourages smokers to plan in advance and quit on that day or to use the day to come up with a plan to quit.

The University of Florida is a tobacco-free campus, which went into effect July 1, 2010. More information is available at www.tobaccofree.ufl.edu.

Reporters interested in covering the event should contact media relations at 273-5810 or 265-0373 to arrange for parking and escorts.