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" The American Cancer Society partnered with Seventeen to help spread the word about the dangerous effects of smoking, just in time for the annual Great American Smokeout, which took place on November 19th. The purpose of the event was to help smokers quit smoking for at least one day, in the hopes that they will quit completely. Seventeen held a sweepstakes where readers could share their stories about how they or someone they know quit smoking, and be entered to win a &amp;quot;Kiss Me, I Don&amp;#039;t Smoke&amp;quot; t-shirt. You can visit livefreesmokefree.org to buy a t-shirt, and for tips on how to quit smoking and other resources. So many of you wrote in, that we had to share your inspirational stories. &amp;quot;I helped my dad quit smoking. It was a horrible habit, and it really affected my sister. She had sinus problems and his smoking and her inhaling led to her developing asthma. He saw how sick she was, yet he could not stop. I spoke to him and begged him to stop. I asked him how he could enjoy doing something that harmed his daughter, and he has since stopped.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;I helped my friend quit smoking by showing her all the studies on how smoking can kill you, and lead to lung cancer. We worked on her smoking addiction and slowly she started smoking less and less cigarettes, until she totally got off the addiction and quit for good. I could tell it was very hard for her, but in the end, she told me it was worth it.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;I helped my friend quit smoking by showing her pictures of lung cancer and stories about families that lost a family member to cancer. I told her that better stop because I wanted her to be around for a long time. A few months later she finally quit \u2014 it&amp;#039;s been almost two years since her last cigarette and she says she&amp;#039;s happier than ever!&amp;quot; &amp;quot;I started smoking at the age of 13 and kept smoking everyday until I was 15. I got a terrible cough, and my doctor said that if it didn&amp;#039;t go away I might have to be hospitalized. I quit smoking the very next day. It was hard at first but then I started doing better in school because I wasn&amp;#039;t sneaking off to smoke and I was able to do better in my extra activities like soccer and playing clarinet. Quitting is the best thing I ever did, and the hardest. But I&amp;#039;m now going to be turning 17, and I have a clean bill of health.&amp;quot; Did you or someone you know quit smoking? Share your story in the comments! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/health/a6333/american-cancer-society-fight-against-smoking/>