The 36th annual Great American Smoke Out, hosted by the American Cancer Society, will be held next week. UA’s Department of Health and Wellness aims to help cigarette smokers quit.

On Nov. 17, the department will launch a twitter campaign to help smokers quit smoking by offering weekly tobacco cessation sessions, ongoing tobacco-free support, as well as medication therapy with no copay.

According to UA’s Department of Health and Wellness, more than 400,000 people die each year of tobacco related disease, and smoking causes 87 percent of all lung cancer.

Along with the many harmful health effects, smoking is a large financial burden. According to the American Cancer Society’s online Tobacco Cost Calculator, if a smoker buys one pack a week every week of the school year, it can cost more than $12,000.

Kate Kaufman, a sophomore at UA, said she has many friends that smoke.

“It seems that all my friends that smoke are always trying to quit,” Kaufman said. “My friends have tried quitting at least 50 times but are never able to kick the addiction.”

Nonsmokers are also in danger of the harmful effects of smoking.  The American Cancer Society estimates that 46,000 deaths from heart disease each year are the result of secondhand smoke. Also, they have found that secondhand smoke may be linked to breast cancer.

Erik Harris, a senior at UA, described the hidden danger he feels that secondhand smoke has.

“Now when I go to a party, I hardly even notice the secondhand smoke in the air because I have become so accustomed to it,” Harris said. “You can see the amount of smoke in the air, and when I first started going to parties I could taste it, but after a while you get use to it. It is scary because you think as a nonsmoker you are safe from the harmful side effects, however you really are as much as risk as smokers are.”