Stop Smoking

Smoking cigarettes usually begins during early adolescence. It is especially common among students who get low grades, drop out of school, feel less confident and not in control of their futures, and whose friends, parents and siblings also smoke (Chassin et al, 1987).

Does this close link between teenage smoking and their friends smoking reflect peer influence? Teens seeking similar friends? Both?

If you are in college or university, and you haven’t started smoking. chances are you probably never will.

Addiction Is Quick

Once addicted to nicotine, we find it very hard to quit. Tobacco is just as addictive as heroin. Some people have actually kicked the heroin habit but have been unable to stop smoking. Surveys in Britain and the United States show that at least one in three people who try cigarettes become addicted. This is a higher rate than for heroin or cocaine (Anthony et al, 1994).

Only One in Seven Quit

Each year fewer than one in seven who want to quit actually do so. Also, smokers who develop a tolerance, eventually need to smoke more often to get the same effect. Quitting causes nicotine-withdrawal symptoms, including craving, insomnia, anxiety and irritability.

Ask yourself if you had to do it over again, would you start smoking? Over 85 percent of adult smokers answer NO! (Slovic et al, 2002).

You know you want to quit. Mark Twain once remarked “to stop smoking is the easiest thing I ever did; I ought to know since I’ve done it a thousand times.”

The majority of smokers really want to quit, and almost 50% try to each year. If you’re serious about stopping, here are some useful tips:

  •  Set a quit date.
  •  Inform family and friends that you are quitting.
  •  Remove all cigarettes. Don’t hide them away for a “rainy” day.
  •  Review what you’ve learned from previous attempts to quit, and anticipate challenges.
  •  Use a nicotine patch or gum. They work well.
  •  Be totally abstinent. Not even a single puff!
  •  Abstain from or greatly reduce your alcohol consumption which facilitates relapse.
  •  If other smokers live or work with you, quit together.
  •  Avoid places where others are likely to smoke. 
  •  Get used to sitting in the non-smoking section at restaurants.
  •  Exercise as much as possible (health permitting).
  •  Research shows that quitters who regularly exercised had higher success rates.
  •  Continue exercising after you quit to reduce the anxiety of quitting (Block Et al., 2000).

Smoking Related Deaths Declining

Thanks to pronounced declines in the U.S. smoking rate, the death rate due to coronary heart disease has declined by nearly 30 percent since the mid-1960s. Smoking related cancer deaths have also been declining, especially among men (Wingo et al, 1999).

Know that in the long run smoking is often suicidal. So Stop NOW!


This report is not a diagnosis. We hope this information can guide you toward improving your life.

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