Health reporter Karrey Britt wants to get you involved in her reporting. Follow along in our new health section.

Will you be participating in the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout on Thursday, Nov. 19?

If you are up to the challenge and wouldn’t mind being featured in an ongoing story, please let me know by noon Tuesday through an e-mail at kbritt@ljworld.com or by calling 832-7190. Hey, maybe it will provide that extra motivation that you need.

Here are some facts about tobacco use:

• A Kansan who smokes a pack a day spends about $35 per week on cigarettes, $150 a month, more than $1,800 a year and more than $18,000 during 10 years.

• Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the U.S.

• Cigarette smoking accounts for about 443,000 premature deaths — including 49,400 in nonsmokers.

• Thirty percent of cancer deaths, including 87 percent of lung cancer deaths, can be attributed to tobacco.

• Smoking also accounts for $193 billion in health care expenditures and productivity losses.

Smokers who want to quit can call the Kansas Tobacco Quitline at 800-QUIT-NOW for free tobacco cessation and coaching services. The Quitline is a free service and enrollment is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A counselor works with the caller during one-on-one phone calls to prepare for a quit date and create a plan to fight cravings and other challenges. Follow-up calls are arranged around participants’ schedules. Studies have found that using a tobacco Quitline can more than double a person’s chances of successfully quitting tobacco.

The Great American Smokeout Web site contains user-friendly tips and tools towards a smoke-free life. In addition to tip sheets and calculators, the site also offers downloadable desktop helpers to assist with planning to quit and succeeding in staying tobacco-free.