No Smoking Day 2022: History, Significance, and Theme
No Smoking Day falls on the second Wednesday of March. The 2022 theme was "Quitting Smoking Doesn't Have To Be Stressful".
No Smoking Day is observed every year on the second Wednesday of March to encourage people to quit smoking and to raise awareness of the harm caused by tobacco. It was first observed in 1984.
The U.S. CDC says smokers live about ten years less than non-smokers and face higher risks of diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
Recovery starts quickly after quitting: oxygen levels normalise in about eight hours, heart attack risk begins to fall in a day, and lung function improves within a few days. After a year heart disease risk is about half that of a smoker, and after fifteen years it is close to that of someone who never smoked.
The 2022 theme, "Quitting Smoking Doesn't Have To Be Stressful", focused on making the process of quitting less stressful.
