Today is the 31st annual Great American Smokeout, a day that the South Dakota Department of Health uses to remind smokers to call its South Dakota QuitLine for free help to quit using tobacco products.

The QuitLine is funded in large part by Initiated Measure 2, which increased the tax on a pack of cigarettes by $1.

Some of that tax increase is allocated to the Department of Health for tobacco prevention; $2.17 million for tobacco cessation, $1.7 million for community and school programming, and $1.13 million for public education, surveillance and administration.

No doubt, the irony of that is not lost on smokers.

They are paying to help others kick a habit that they are not able, or willing, to kick themselves. Nobody ever said life - or government tax policy for that matter - was fair.

But smokers, and their death-producing habit, are an easy taxation target and a logical one, too.

Cigarette-related health costs are paid by all of us, so we don't mind asking smokers to pick up the anti-smoking tab, or to pay a bigger share of health care costs.

In addition to free coaching services, the QuitLine offers free nicotine replacement products or medication to those who enroll in the program and participate in coaching. South Dakotans can sign-up by calling toll-free, 1-866-SD QUITS (1-866-737-8487).

South Dakota has made progress in reducing its adult smoking rate. That has fallen from 27 percent in 1998 to 20 percent in 2006, according to preliminary data from the state.

But far too many teens and youth start smoking each year in South Dakota and tobacco use is still the single most preventable cause of death and disease - responsible for the death of more than 1,000 people in South Dakota each year, according to Dr. Gail Gray, director of Health and Medical Services for the state health department.

"Quitting smoking is one of the healthiest lifestyle changes a person can make, but it's also one of the most difficult," Gray said.

With the recent expansion of the QuitLine, there's never been a better time to try than today.