Throw out your ashtrays and cigarettes on Thursday, November 15th in honor of the 37th annual "Great American Smoke Out."

Todd Crum with the Frederick County Health Department said smoking kills about 443,000 people each year and today, people across the United States are encouraged to quit smoking for good.

"Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable disease and premature death in the United States yet 43.8 million American still smoke cigarettes. According to our 2010 data, approximately 19,000 adults in Frederick County still smoke cigarettes," Crum said.

He said quitting smoking can help you live longer and increase your quality of life while lowering the risk of lung cancer, heart attack, stroke and chronic lung disease. Women who stop smoking before pregnancy or during the first trimester reduce their risk of having a low birth-weight baby to that of women who never smoked.