Great American Smokeout 2024

For more than 40 years, the American Cancer Society has hosted the Great American Smokeout on the third Thursday of November.  Great American Smokeout activities provide an opportunity for individuals, college campuses, community groups, businesses, health care providers, and others to encourage people who use tobacco to use the date to make a plan to quit, or plan in advance and initiate a tobacco quit plan on the day of the event .

The Great American Smokeout is traditionally held on the third Thursday of November; however, your campus might choose to plan the event on a different day to accommodate your campus calendar. Great American Smokeout is on November 21, 2024.

Registration

Registration for this evant is open through Friday, November 1, 2024. California colleges and universities and public health organizations working with institutions of higher education are eligible to register for this event. By registering for the GAS events, schools and community partners will receive free quit kits to distribute to California college students.

Great American Smokeout Events on Campus

CYAN provides free resources to California colleges and universities interested in hosting campus events to motivate and support students and campus community members in quitting tobacco. Resources include quit kits, print educational and cesation materials, and tools to generate ideas for on-campus events and activities.

Quit Kits

Quit kits are designed to support individuals who use tobacco in quitting by providing an assortment of quit tools and resources. This year’s quit kits include items such as mint toothpicks, tea bag, hard candy, textured sticker, water enhancer, quit brochure, a pen, and a note pad for individuals to document cravings and triggers. CYAN sends campuses all supplies and campus partners can build the quit kits and add additional resources or materials, if interested.

Customizable quit kit materials are available in English, Spanish, and for Student Veterans. When registering, individuals can select which quit kits they are interested in receiving. Quit kits will be distributed to California campuses and organizations that register for the event in early November.

Educational Materials

Posters, flyers, fact cards, and other educational materials are available free of charge to help promote tobacco cessation on your campus. If you would like these additional materials for your Great American Smokeout and other events on campus, please click here.

Digital Vape and Tobacco Quit Support Guide

CYAN provides a digital support guide which offers tips on how to start a quit journey, helpful techniques to manage cravings and triggers, journaling prompts, and free and anonymous support resources.

Great American Smokeout Event Toolkit

CYAN provides an Event Toolkit which offers event ideas, social media messaging, and resources for education, advocacy, and tobacco treatment. A new Event Toolkit will be shared for the 2024 GAS event.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

If you would like to request educational materials to from Kick It California, visit here. Kick It California provides free support for individuals in California to quit tobacco. For more information about the helpline, please visit kickitca.org.

For more information about this event, please contact Symphanie Algodon at symphanie@cyanonline.org.