• With no program at all, 95% of quitters fail, and only 5% succeed. So it's wise to get help. Get into a program. Consider one -- or more -- of the products and programs below.
  
  
• Print out this page now, as well as our Quitting Tips page. These will serve as a useful and very valuable guide when you quit. Print out these pages now.
  
  

• A large recent study of 900 patients compared Zyban and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) alone, and in combination.
  
  
• With the prescription anti-depressant Zyban, the initial success rate was 36% upon completion of therapy. A follow-up study showed a 30% success rate for Zyban, after one year. Zyban is by prescription.
  
  
• With Nicotine Replacement Therapy the initial success rate was less -- 23%, and only 15% after one year. Nicotine replacement products like the patch and gum are sold over-the-counter, except the nicotine inhaler.
  
  
• When NRT and Zyban were used in combination under a physician's care, the success rate was 39%, and 35.5% at one year. This study was published in the NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE in March, 1999 was funded by the makers of Zyban.
  
  
• Remember: with no program, there is only a 5% success rate after one year. With a program, your chances will at least triple (to 15% success rate, with nicotine replacement).
  
  
• More useful information on programs follows below.

Two hits of nicotine are better than one if you want to quit smoking, new research shows. A French study suggests smokers may have a better chance to beat their bad habit with a nicotine inhaler and a patch instead of just an inhaler.

At six weeks, 60.5 percent of those who used the combination had quit, while only 47.5 percent of those who used an inhaler alone had stopped, the study finds. At 12 weeks, the numbers were 42 percent and 31 percent, respectively.

After a year, 19.5 percent using the combination had stayed quit, but only 14 percent who used the inhaler alone had remained smokefree.

The study, conducted at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, appears in a recent issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

This Cochrane Review study done in 1996 and updated in November, 2007, found that nicotine replacement therapies like the patch, gum or inhaler increased chances of quitting by 50% to 70%.

Bear in mind that with no program, only 5% of quitters are still smokefree at the end of 12 months. A 50% increase in the quit rate would mean that 7.5% of those using NRT were successful after 12 months.

Telephone support

Call 1-800-QUIT NOW for free support with a trained counselor, who will talk to you whether you are ready to quit or just thinking about it. This number will forward to your State's tobacco cessation program, which offers live phone support in your area. When you call, a friendly staff person will offer a choice of free services, including self-help materials, a referral list of other programs in your community, and one-one-counseling over the phone.

There is also the National Cancer Institute's Smoking Quitline, 1-877-44U-Quit, offering proactive counseling by trained personnel.

The Schick-Shadel Treatment Centers offer aversion therapy -- self-administering a mild electric shock from an ordinary 9 volt battery as one smokes a cigarette. Studies show a 95% initial success rate, and 50% after a year -- better than all the other programs! But most pharmaceutical companies today are reluctant to add an aversion therapy option to their helpful products. Sadly, they regard aversion therapy as being "not consumer friendly." The Foundation for a Smokefree America hopes that one company will soon get behind this important and proven method of qutting smoking.

Alternative therapies such as hypnosis, acupuncture and herbs have been shown to be far less effective than the above methods. Several controlled studies found they were ineffective.

It's not enough simply to use a product. Counseling, and as well as utilizing the classic, boilerplate points for quitting, are critical to succeeding. Our Quitting Tips page includes a useful guide to these critically important boilerplate points. These will empower you with valuable techniques, and will also strengthen your motivation and resolve.

One excellent WebMD page covers the anti-depressant smoking cessaton pill, Zyban, and the pros and cons of this prescription medication. If you are thinking of using Zyban, reading this page is important.

The American Lung Association's
Freedom From Smoking Online


This popular smoking cessation program is now available free. Quitting smoking can evoke a lot of feelings: fear, resentment, relief, and so on. If you stay committed to this online program, and complete all of the assignments, you have a good chance of remaining smoke-free for good. Millions of people have quit smoking and you can too!

This CDC webpage is also quite useful. IT offers links to what happens within 20 minutes after smokers inhale their last cigarette, and other useful support tools for quitting successfully.

The venerable Mayo Clinic offers its Nicotine Dependence Center, including a very pricey in-patient program for quitting. They offer individual counseling, an 8-day residential program, and a work site program for companies. They report a success rate after one-year of 23 to 45 percent, depending on the program. That is well above the average. With locations in Arizona, Minnesota and Florida, this is perhaps the Rolls Royce of stop smoking programs.

Another excellent inpatient program is offered, at St. Helena Hospital in Northern California's Napa valley. Or just call them at (707) 963-6360. You check in for a week, and it's not cheap! But the wealthy may need a bit of extra support in quitting, as they do not always have the strongest self-denial muscles.

Are you able to easily put off getting a brand new car, or going to a $60 per head restaurant? How about postponing that vacation in Monte Carlo, Aspen, or Florida?

If you can do those things, chances are you won't need an inpatient program, and you'll have all the self-denial muscles you'll need to quit smoking. But you'll need to flex them. And yes, it might hurt a bit.

At www.quitnet.org you can go to a chat room where those quitting are doing it together, not alone. It can be a great source of support -- like a Nicotine Anonymous meeting, but online. This site was put together by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Tobacco Control Program.

Unlike a chat room, at Nicotine Anonymous meetings, you'll find warm bodies, which can be more comforting than a computer screen. If this appeals to you more, pick up your telephone and ask directory assistance for the phone number of your local Nicotine Anonymous chapter. These are based on the classic 12-steps, borrowed from AA. The meetings are free and run entirely by volunteers. If there are no meetings in your city, try calling (800) 642-0666, call a nearby city's directory assistance, or check the website. There you can also find out how to start your own Nicotine Anonymous meeting. That's how it spread all over the U.S.

Laser treatment is a newly available method. It's for the adventurous; as of November, 2005, we know of no university studies published in mainstream medical journals which provide reliable data on their success rate 12 months after treatment. But with the patch and nicotine gum at an 85% failure rate after 12 months, it might be something to try. Freedom Laser Therapy's laser treatment claims to alleviate nicotine withdrawal symptoms. They also offer a 30 minute video on the psychological aspects of the addiction, and a 30 day vitamin detoxification regimen.

http://www.quit4life.com Follow the stories of four young people as they try to kick their habit in "Quit 4 Life," a unique interactive site that offers important advice for those trying to quit smoking. This is a very cool site, in the extreme.

http://www.questionit.com

The opening animated page says it all -- YOU are a target. But your mind is a weapon. "Question It" provides tips to help smokers win their personal battle against tobacco.
Their Kickin' Tips are truly excellent.

http://whyfiles.news.wisc.edu/024nicotine/index.html The Nicotine Junkies investigate the effects of nicotine on the body while offering tips on how to win the war against tobacco.

800 - QUIT NOW

A great -- and fun -- new website and phone line to help you out, if you're ready to quit smoking or even just thinking about it. There's lots of free stuff, and there are animations at the site -- but they can only send you the free stuff and accept 800-number calls if you live in California, because of limitations on their grant funding. But even if you're not from California, this website -- www.nobutts.ucsd.edu -- is still a lot of fun.

QUIT COMMUNITIES AND CHAT

At this huge and well known site from Boston University, anytime you visit you will find ten to thirty people who are chatting live. It's also an excellent and supportive quit program, with thousands of graduates who have quit successfully.

Visit this community of caring and supportive people, all in various stages of quitting. Post a message, chat, and read what others are going through. This is a real grassroots site.