The American Cancer Society’s annual Great American Smokeout on Thursday, Nov. 16, was recognized by communities all over the country, including Overlake Hospital, as a way to promote resources for people who want to quit their addiction to smoking.

Overlake urged young electronic cigarette users to quit, describing the health concerns these electronic alternatives to smoking can cause.

Dr. Todd Freudenberger, pulmonary medicine and critical care specialist at Overlake, said that despite the large decline in American smokers since the 1960s, e-cigarette use has become significantly more common since 2010.

Although they are not as harmful as their traditional counterparts, e-cigarettes do contain chemicals that can interfere with health, he said, citing propylene glycol and glycerine as common chemicals that when heated can produce own human carcinogens as byproducts.

Smoking rates have drastically decreased, Freudenberger said, stating that in 1965 a little more than 40 percent of Americans smoked, but today that number is closer to 15 percent.

However, the rise in popularity of e-cigarettes could possibly encourage more people to smoke since the level of regulation and restriction on the marketing and sale of e-cigarettes is not as strict as traditional cigarettes.

Freudenberger also said the lack of regulation makes it easier to get into the hands of children.

In a press release, Overlake Hospial cited a report from the U.S. Attorney General in December 2016 stating that electronic cigarette use increase 900 percent among high school students from 2011 to 2015.

Freudenberger is concerned that the rise in popularity of e-cigarettes will re-normalize smoking, and could act as a gateway to people to smoke tobacco cigarettes.

“The concern is that because e-cigarettes are not regulated in the same way that conventional cigarettes are, there is a potential change in where we see them,” he said. “They are not banned in the same public spaces or places, and not regulated in marketing the same way.”

However, because e-cigarettes do not contain many of the harmful chemicals present in tobacco cigarettes, Freudenberger said they could be used as a tool to help people quit smoking. He said that awareness days like the Great American Smokeout not only try to prevent people from smoking, but are thee to promote resources and services to help those dealing with addiction.

“What it represents as a day is an opportunity to share with people what resources are there for smoking cessation,” he said.

Freudenberger noted that the American Cancer Society’s Quit For Life program was a important resource for those looking for help ending their addiction. Quit For Life gives people access to coaches who help with smoking cessation, he said.

According to the American Caner Society, The Great American Smokeout events first started in 1970 after Arthur P. Mullaney started a community event in Randolph, Massachusetts, where smokers would quit for a day and donate money to a local high school scholarship fund.

Similar events became popular shortly, afterward and eventually the American Cancer Society made it a nationwide event in 1977.

For more information on the American Cancer Society, visit www.cancer.org. For information on the Quit For Life program, visit www.quitnow.net.