# smooking **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 23, 2011, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooking/582875 "2011-05-23T09:47:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jenni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/977dab/32.png) [@jenni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jenni)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooking/582875/1 "2011-05-23T09:47:25Z")
How can I stop smooking? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooking/582875/2 "2011-05-23T10:15:39Z")
Stop buying toobacco. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooking/582875/3 "2011-05-23T10:17:19Z")
I assume you mean smoking, rather than [“smooking”](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=smooking) - my advice to you is “just stop” There are plenty of methods by which people swear - hypnotism, needles, slowly cutting down… etc etc, but in my experience it is not that hard to just stop and never smoke again. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooking/582875/4 "2011-05-23T11:58:46Z")
I’m sure this will be a fairly unpopular opinion, but (from personal experience of quitting myself), I agree with **scudsucker** , more or less. It’s not necessarily easy to quit outright by simple choice, but it’s not impossible either. All the schemes and aids available to ostensibly help people quit also happen to provide a whole range of excuses to fail. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooking/582875/5 "2011-05-23T12:10:39Z")
I decided twenty years ago that I did not want my daughters associating the scent of tobacco smoke with me; they should associate it with “other people” and not as a “normal” thing in the house. So I stopped. It sucked for the first couple of weeks, and then it sucked as a missing habit for the next year at least. (Getting in the car and NOT lighting up was very weird for the longest time.) I can’t say I’ve quit completely – I did have a cigar not more than five years ago. You need to not buy a pack of cigarettes, and not light one up. It is easier to not do something than it is to do something. (If “smooking” is something other than inhaling the fumes from burning tobacco leaves, please forgive my ignorance and ignore this useless advice.) ---
**Author:** ![samjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@samjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samjones)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooking/582875/6 "2011-05-23T12:26:15Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Stop buying toobacco. Yuup - coold tuurkey is the oonly thiing thaat woorks. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooking/582875/7 "2011-05-23T12:59:57Z")
If the OP is trying to quit [this](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=smooking) then the problem may be a bit more complex that originally thought. Maybe get one of these signs [http://www.theinteriorgallery.com/pd\_no\_smooking\_cigarette\_sign.cfm](http://www.theinteriorgallery.com/pd_no_smooking_cigarette_sign.cfm) ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooking/582875/8 "2011-05-23T13:05:07Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > If the OP is trying to quit [this](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=smooking) then the problem may be a bit more complex that originally thought. Would it not bother you that you’re exposing others to your second hand smook? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooking/582875/9 "2011-05-23T13:44:57Z")
> [@samjones](#): > > Yuup - coold tuurkey is the oonly thiing thaat woorks. A cøøld tuurkey once bit my sister. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooking/582875/10 "2011-05-23T14:23:47Z")
> [@samjones](#): > > Yuup - coold tuurkey is the oonly thiing thaat woorks. I really hope this wasn’t a serious post (other than the doubled vowels). Cold turkey might be the ‘best’ or most effective (though I haven’t seen any cites on this thread, yet), but it’s certainly NOT the only effective method. Maybe all the other methods are less effective but to claim they don’t work at all is demonstrably false. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooking/582875/11 "2011-05-23T14:41:51Z")
Some friends and a doctor told me Chantix is effective. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooking/582875/12 "2011-05-23T14:42:26Z")
E-cigarettes help some people. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooking/582875/13 "2011-05-23T14:47:55Z")
Suicide. Works 100% of the time. Also, Lung Cancer worked for my father. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooking/582875/14 "2011-05-23T15:38:54Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Suicide. Works 100% of the time. > > Also, Lung Cancer worked for my father. Hey, anybody can quit; it takes a real man to face emphysema. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooking/582875/15 "2011-05-23T16:07:45Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > A cøøld tuurkey once bit my sister. Beat me to it! ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooking/582875/16 "2011-05-23T16:09:31Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > A cøøld tuurkey once bit my sister. Mynd you, tuurkey bites Kan be pretty nasti. ---
**Author:** ![samjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@samjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samjones)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooking/582875/17 "2011-05-23T16:13:13Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Suicide. Works 100% of the time. > > Also, Lung Cancer worked for my father. Lung cancer doesn’t seem to be a very effective way to quit. Cold turkey works. “Not buying tobacco” is a surprisingly ineffective way to quit smoking. Back to the other poster’s comments - I don’t know if cold turkey is the only thing that work or even if it’s the best way to do it. It works though. Cold turkey for 6 weeks + staying far, far away from tobacco for about 3 - 5 _years_. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooking/582875/18 "2011-05-23T16:20:50Z")
Here’s what worked for me: “systematic desensitization.” I had been a fairly heavy smoker (2-3 packs a day). I got a list of all available brands of cigarettes, and put the list in order of the amounts of nicotine in them, most to least. I began with the brand I had been smoking, and switched to the next milder brand. At no time did I limit the amount I was smoking. At first this brand seemed very mild to me, but after a while it seemed normal. At this point I switched to the next brand on the list, still not limiting the amount. As soon as the next brand started seeming normal, I switched to the next on the list. Eventually I made my way to the mildest cigarette available. As before, I smoked them with no limit, but since they were so mild, it was pretty much like not smoking at all. In fact, I probably could have just continued smoking these. But one afternoon I realized that I hadn’t smoked all day . . . and I didn’t miss it. The entire process took a few months, but from that day on, I have never smoked and never had any cravings. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooking/582875/19 "2011-05-23T16:40:28Z")
This past April 11 was seven years ago that I quit. Cold Turkey. The first three days took incredible will power. I had convinced myself that I no longer wanted to be a smoker and that is how I got through the first week. I also kept a box of toothpicks handy to help squelch the craving. How did I convince myself? I did not want a doctor to tell me that I had lung cancer. Unlesss you really mean smooking… then never mind. If you mean smoking, good luck to you. It will be one of the best decisions you will ever make. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooking/582875/20 "2011-05-23T16:57:05Z")
The patch is what finally got my father, a lifelong smoker, to quit. I forget what they’re called, something with an N – Norplant? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smooking/582875.md?page=2)