Quit Smoking Cold Turkey

Forget about quitting smoking "forever." Nicotine dependency is real and permanent as alcoholism. Don't play games with yourself. Treating a nicotine addiction as little habit is a recipe for relapse. There is no such thing as just one puff. You have an addiction and it will be with you till the end. But you are still able not to smoke on everyday basis. Maybe you will die with addiction never feeded with another puff. It's your choice. Try "one day at a time" strategy, do not insist on quitting forever, otherwise on which day will you celebrate?

To quit smoking cold turkey you need nothing more but time and will power. But remember that education, more information about fighting an addiction, getting new behavioral skills, and ongoing support can easily triple you chances for success.

Anyway you need to get in a healthy mindset. Start exercising more and make an effort to eat healthy. This is hard because you might feel sick from cigarette cravings. A large part of quitting is mental, so getting into a healthy mindset is all important.

Also remember to drink lots of fluids, especially water. There is a good chance you might feel sick, so staying hydrated is critical. Make sure your friends and family are aware of your intention to quit smoking so that they can support you. If certain friends used to smoke with you a lot, tell them not to smoke around you while you are trying to quit smoking.

No matter how long you've smoked, how old you are, or how seriously you've damaged your health, it's never too late to stop your nicotine addiction, and start the most acute period of healing that your mind and body have likely ever known.

Smoking During Pregnancy

Smoking mothers (and fathers too)can be unwittingly killing and maiming their children - born and unborn. There is a strong probability that smoking mothers are possibly sharing with their children lung cancer and many other similarly devastating diseases. Besides the above ugly facts, here are more unsettling reasons to think about while smoking. Smoking will not only damage your health, it will also damage the health of your unborn child:

# First of all, smoking makes it hard to conceive. Fertility in both men and women are heavily affected by nicotine and other substances that smoker consume. In women, smoking conflicts with the egg movement toward the fallopian tubes as well as the secretions that are produced during pregnancy. In men, it lowers the semen count, and also the motility of the sperm.

# Smoking affects the shape of the sperm making it incapable of penetrating the egg. Also smoking in many cases is the main cause for impotency in men as it interferes with the blood that provided to the penis.

# In some cases the placenta is instantly affected by smoking causing a miscarriage of the foetus, or death in the womb.

# Children born of smoking parents potentially get a low fertility syndrome and experience troubles from a great number of infertility problems. For instance, babies of smoking women will be most probably to be born premature and under weight. Also they have poor lung functions right from birth.

# Infants are also likely to have less developed vital organs than babies of non-smoking mothers. There is a strong probability that these babies have an undeveloped liver which will affect them throughout their lives.

# The babies of smoking women who smoked around a pack cigarettes a day are more likely to be sickly. Also these babies are twice as much inclined to die from 'sudden infant death' (SID) syndrome than the babies of non-smoking women

# The baby in the womb of a pregnant smoking lady gets its nicotine addiction even before he was born as its blood absorbs the nicotine that the mother’s blood shares with it; therefore it is more likely that when born and get older this youngster would become a smoker - and also get all smoking related diseases and problems.

Any one of the above should be persuasive enough to make any woman or man, who really want to have a healthy child to quit smoking - if not for yourself, then for future little miracle. Read the article again, and ask yourself are you really comfortable that you are consistently harming your child of your own free will? Get in touch with your doctor today and get help to quit smoking for good. You owe it to your child to be healthy and give them a great beginning to the start of their life.

Quitting Smoking Cold Turkey

It can be very hard to quit smoking cold turkey, but it's free and you can start right now! As many ex-smokers can confirm, it can be very tricky to realize how to quit smoking. Have you heard that cigarette smoking is harder to quit than heroin? And one of the toughest ways to quit smoking is "cold turkey."

Many ex-smokers quitted "cold turkey," picking a day to smoke their last cigarette and swearing never take another puff. While some smokers choose a day beforehand, many other conclude to quit on impulse. When the resolution to quit smoking comes speedily, a significant mental problem is throwing out that near-empty pack of cigarettes. It's more effective to some smokers to be able to know that they chose to throw the cigarettes away and never return to smoking routine.

Quitting smoking abruptly, can be very challenging, specifically for individuals who have been smoking countless cigarettes for a long period of time. Nicotine withdrawal is a nasty issue. Symptoms of nicotine withdrawal include irritability, intense craving for cigarettes, insomnia, tiredness, headaches, tension, problems concentrating, increased appetite, weight gain. Nicotine addiction use smoker brains to fabricate any imaginable reason to get nicotine.

The key idea to keep in mind is that the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal lessen over time. If ex-smoker passed through the initial days of quitting cold turkey, it will get easier to avoid to light up again as time goes by. Remember all of these, there are some points you can do to force the cold turkey method to be easier on yourself, and make it less probable to start smoking again.

Remember to drink plenty of water, this will keep you hydrated and provide you with something to do with your mouth in place of puffing on a cigarette. Anyway, chewing sugarless gum or sucking on hard candy will keep your mouth busy when you start thinking about smoke. When a craving hits, try closing your eyes and counting to ten while taking some deep breaths. If that doesn't work, take a walk to get yourself away from craving.

If all else fails, call a friend, relative, co-worker, or a smoker's help line. Get some external support to remind you zillions of the reasons to quit smoking: your health, your family, your finances, your appearance, etc. Or talk about whatever you want, but smoking to redirect your attention until the craving to smoke passes.

20 Ways to Quit Smoking Cigarettes

Today one in four men and one in five women in USA smoke. For those who never smoked, this is a confusing fact. Don't smokers realize that cigarettes are the number one killer in USA, that they radically increase risk for heart disease, stroke, cancer, high blood pressure, and almost every other health concern, small or large? How could smoking be worth this?

Truth is, most smokers do understand. They also realize the huge financial toll of smoking, that extended far beyond the cost of a pack of cigarettes, because smokers pay more for insurance, lose money on the resale value of their cars and homes, spend more on dry cleaning and teeth cleaning.

Then why do millions still smoke cigarettes? The answer is simple, because the nicotine in cigarettes is highly addictive. On the other hand, never have there been so many methods, techniques, and systems available for quitting smoking. And with every month that passes, there is more research showing the benefits of quitting, and the disadvantages of not quitting.

If you have any health issues that you think may be caused by smoking cigarettes, be careful and get treatment for problems before they get worse. Consider again whether it is time, finally, to quit. Educate yourself about quit smoking challenge and find suitable approach, perhaps working with your doctor or an expert. The following 20 tips will help you succeed.

1. Set a quit date and write a "quit date contract" that includes your signature and that of a supportive witness.

2. Write all your reasons for quitting smoking on an index card and keep it near you at all times. Here are some to get you started: "My daughter, my granddaughter, my husband, my wife..." You get the idea.

3. As you are getting ready to quit, stop buying cartons of cigarettes. Instead, only buy a pack at a time, and only carry two or three with you at a time. Eventually you will find that when you want a smoke, you will not have any immediately available. That will slowly wean you down to fewer cigarettes.

4. Keep a list of when you smoke, what you are doing at the time, and how bad the craving is for a week before quitting to see if specific times of the day or activities increase your cravings. These will help you to combat cravings later.

5. Prepare a list of things to do when a craving hits. Suggestions include: take a walk, drink a glass of water, kiss your partner or child, throw the ball for the dog, wash the car, clean out a cupboard or closet, have sex, chew a piece of gum, wash your face, brush your teeth, take a nap, get a cup of coffee or tea, practice your deep breathing, light a candle. Make copies of the list and keep one with you at all times so when the craving hits, you can whip out the list and quickly do something from it.

6. When your quit date arrives, throw out anything that reminds you of smoking. That includes all smoking paraphernalia - leftover cigarettes, matches, lighters, ashtrays, cigarette holders, even the lighter in your car.

7. Switch to a cup of herbal tea whenever you usually have a cigarette. That might be at breakfast, midmorning, or after meals. The act of brewing the tea and slowly sipping it as it cools will provide the same stress relief as a hit of nicotine.

8. Switch your cigarette habit for a nut habit - four nuts in their shell for every cigarette you want to smoke. This way, you are using your hands and your mouth, getting the same physical and oral sensations you get from smoking.

9. Think of difficult things you have done in the past. Ask people who know you well to remind you of challenges you have successfully overcome. This will give you the necessary self-confidence to stick with your smoke free decision.

10. Change your routine to minimize cravings. Sit in a different chair at breakfast or take a different route to work. If you usually have a drink and cigarette after work, change that to a walk. If you are used to a smoke with your morning coffee, switch to tea, or stop at Starbucks for a cup of java - the chain is smoke-free.

11. Tell your friends, coworkers, boss, partner, kids, etc., how you feel about situations instead of bottling up your emotions. If something makes you angry, express it instead of smothering it with cigarette smoke. If you are bored, admit to yourself that you are bored and find something energetic to do instead of lighting up.

12. Remember that there is no such thing as quitting smoking forever. Every ex-smoker is able to celebrate freedom from the smoking like one year milestone, but you can't celebrate "quitting smoking forever", so it's good idea to celebrate every smoke free day. If you relapse, just start again. You haven't failed. Some people have to quit as many as eight times before they are successful.

13. Put all the money you are saving on cigarettes in a large glass jar. You want to physically see how much you've been spending. Earmark that money for something you've always dreamed of doing, but never thought you could afford, be it a cruise to Alaska or a first-class ticket to visit an old college friend.

14. Switch to decaf until you have been cigarette-free for two months. Too much caffeine while quitting can cause the jitters.

15. When a craving hits, try closing your eyes and counting to ten while taking some deep breathes. If that does not work, take a walk to get yourself away from temptation.

16. Create a smoke-free zone. Do not allow anyone to use tobacco in your home, car, or even while sitting next to you in a restaurant. Make actual "No Smoking" signs and hang them around your house and in your car.

17. Find a healthy snack food you can keep with you and use in place of cigarettes to quench that urge for oral gratification. For instance, try pistachio nuts, sunflower seeds, sugarless lollipops or gum, carrot or celery sticks. The last ones are best if you are concerned about weight gain.

18. Do some deep breathing each day for ten minutes. Breathe in through your nose very slowly, hold the breath for a few seconds, and breathe out very slowly through your mouth. It is possible to do your breathing with your eyes closed also.

19. Picture yourself playing tennis. Or go play tennis. British researchers found volunteers trying to quit smoking were better able to ignore their urges to smoke when they were told to visualize a tennis match.

20. Quit when you're in a good mood. Studies find that you are less likely to be a successful quitter if you quit smoking when you are depressed or under a great deal of stress.

Powerful Video Documentary: Nicotine Addiction Result

It seems that health aspects of smoking and nicotine addiction rarely can help smoker to feel real desire to quit this video can help you if you are in need to feel a shock and some understanding of what the nicotine addiction is in reality.

2 Things to Quit Smoking Cold Turkey Successfully

To quit smoking successfully smoker are in need of only two things to succeed. The first one is understanding that smoking can't give any positive effect to smoker. Educate yourself to understand that smoking will never relax you or help you to concentrate. If you miss this first point there are tons of chances that you will go back to smoking routine sooner or later after your quit smoking attempt. It is very hard for human being to refrain from something useful, so if you think that smoking helps you in any way, it is the direct way to relapse, even if your desire to quit smoking is strong enough. Remember that if you think that if you think that smoking is somewhat enjoyable process, you have zero chances to quit smoking for good.

The second thing you need to successfully quit smoking cold turkey is some little tricks that help to battle with nicotine cravings. There are tons of them online and here are some helpful tricks that will help. Begin your quitting smoking process on the weekend or whatever days you free from your common practice. Remember to sleep a lot and have a lot of rest. Avoid situations that irritate you, you won't deal with stress well. Also avoid being bored; you need something you like to. Avoid smokers even they are your friends. Keep a lot of water and herbal ice tea on hand, drinking helps to flush the nicotine out of your body faster.

Always remember that while you are on quitting smoking process you (as nicotine addict) are only one cigarette away from relapse. 3 minutes are enough to let craving fade away, so if decide that you are loosing your battle give yourself 3-5 minutes before you will light up another cigarette. Everyone has great opportunity to realize that there is no need for cigarette in these minutes.

No buts! Syria bans smoking in public

President Bashar al-Assad has issued a decree banning smoking in a wide range of public places such as cafes and restaurants, was reported on 12, October. The decree "forbids smoking and the sale of tobacco in any form in cafes, restaurants and nightclubs as well as in schools, universities, hospitals, cinemas, theatres and museums." The decree also outlaws smoking in educational institutions, health centres, sports halls, and on public transport.

The Syrian government has passed several laws restricting smoking in the last two decades. A decree in 1996 banned tobacco advertising, while a 2006 law outlawed smoking on public places, introducing fines for offenders. Now offenders will be fined 2,000 Syrian pounds — about $45. Also recently was issued a law that banned the sale of tobacco to those under the age of 18.

Health Minister Rida Saeed said authorities were working on campaigns that explain to the public "the health hazards of smoking and the environmental, economic and social vices of smoking."

The World Health Organization is unable to provide details on tobacco consumption in Syria, but levels of smoking in public is high across the Arab world, especially among men. Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates — and most recently Iraq — have imposed similar restrictions on smoking, but the bans vary in scope and enforcement.

Scientists Find Genes Responsible for Lung Cancer

An international research team has recognized two genetic variations that seem to boost a person's risk of developing lung cancer by up to sixty percent. Lung cancer is the top cause of cancer death in men and the second leading cause of cancer death among women worldwide, according to the American Cancer Society, with about 975,000 men and 376,000 women forecast to die annually. Smoking is the leading risk factor, but increasingly scientists are looking to genetics to help explain why some long-time smokers never develop the disease and why some non-smokers do.

Genetic mutations in more than 15,000 people - 6,000 with lung cancer and 9,000 without the disease were analyzed. "We are looking at differences in the DNA that makes you more or less likely to develop lung cancer," said Paul Brennan, a cancer epidemiologist at the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer. "The idea is if you can recognize genes then that might be a sign of lung cancer." The researchers discovered a region on the fifth chromosome containing two genes - TERT and CRR9 - where variations can increase the likelihood of lung cancer by as much as sixty percent. "Not much is known about CRR9, but the TERT gene research is promising, because it makes active an enzyme called telomerase, which is key to aging and cancer", Brennan said.

Cancer is caused by defects in DNA, the basic genetic material. All chromosomes, which carry the DNA, also have little caps on each end called telomeres. Each time a cell divides; these telomeres become a little more frayed. When they are too worn out, the cell dies. However, when cells become cancerous, they produce telomerase, which can renew the telomeres and lets the cells reproduce out of control, eventually to form a tumor. So implicating the TERT gene in a specific cancer can help lead to a better understanding of how cancer develops and increase the invention of new drugs to stop tumors, Brennan added. "The principle is there," he said - "if one can identify what goes wrong, it may be possible to recognize targeted drugs."

In Reality Smoker Will End up Looking Like This

It seems that this video like tons of other stop smoking videos are here just to shock smokers and give them chance to think about their smoking routine from different point of view. It can't help to quit smoking, but every smoker are able to stop, millions did.

Quitting Smoking Cold Turkey

One of the most popular and famous quitting smoking ways is quitting smoking cold turkey. The phrase "quit smoking cold turkey" is commonly understood to mean to quit smoking abruptly, without preparation, nor a gradual decrease in amount of smoked cigarettes. Most people also believe that quitting smoking cold turkey means to quit smoking without using any quit smoking aids such as nicotine gum or patches.

Quitting smoking cold turkey is probably the most popular, while maybe the most ineffective method for quitting. Quitting cold turkey can be very tricky due to the brutality of withdrawal symptoms the new exsmoker faces. If you do decide to quit smoking cold turkey, that does not mean you shouldn't at least have a plan. In fact, quitting smoking cold turkey method would be much more successful if smokers prepared ahead of time. You can increase your chances for quitting smoking for good with the cold turkey method if you follow a few quitting smoking tips:

- Have a plan. Choose a quit day. Get rid of lighters and ashtrays or anything that remind you of smoking. Inform your friends and family that you are going to quit and ask for their support.

- Understand that withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, intense craving for cigarettes, tiredness, headaches, insomnia and more, may be intense, but they will lessen after just a few days. If you can make it through the early days of quitting smoking cold turkey, it will get easier as time goes by.

- Inspire yourself. Make a list of all the quitting smoking reasons and keep it in your pocket. Look at it when you get depressed.

- Drink lots of water to help your body flush itself out quickly.

- Avoid alcohol and coffee. Stay away from anything that you may associate with lighting up.

- When cravings hit, close your eyes and count down from 10 to 0, very slowly. Breathe deeply with each count.

- Call a friend when you feel like reaching for a smoke. Divert your attention.

- Take a quick walk, even if it is just to the bathroom or mailbox.

Strong willpower is often associated with using cold turkey quitting smoking method. Experts say chances of success depend on several factors, not just a person's willpower. While having willpower is essential, finally your success depends on how badly you want to quit and whether or not you believe you can do it. If you want to quit more than you want to smoke, and you believe that you can quit, you will be successful.

Are You Ready to Quit Smoking Cold Turkey?

You need to be ready to quit smoking cold turkey. Most people think that that willpower will be enough to not start again. For many people this is simply not true. Moreover, most smokers believe that quitting smoking cannot be done by going cold turkey.

Many people who have tried to quit smoking cold turkey have been unsuccessful due to severe withdrawal symptoms. Most people who have stopped smoking completely have tried several times before quitting smoking successfully. Cold turkey quit smoking method is one of the oldest and best known methods to help people quit smoking.

The cold turkey method is great if you understand what the withdrawal symptoms are, and make sure that you treat them properly. Drinking lots of water will help to flush the body out quickly. Keeping your mouth busy and keeping a chart of what is occurring when you have a craving will help you to keep an eye on what is going on with your body.

Keep in mind that not everyone will have feelings of withdrawal. Taking a walk or calling a friend when you feel like smoking will help you to be able to be stay smoke free while you are trying to quit smoking. Willpower is important, your success will also depend on how badly you want to quit smoking, and whether or not you believe that, you can do it. Quit smoking cold turkey is the only method that is free, and definitely the one you can use to be crowned with success.

Beating that old demon nicotine

Beating any addiction is hard; just ask anyone who has tried. However, addictions can be beaten; just ask anyone who has succeeded. What about cigarettes? For many, they are the toughest addiction to overcome – perhaps tougher now than ever, given these stressful times.

Smokers can find tons of information on topics including quit smoking medications, nicotine replacement therapy, and nicotine withdrawal symptoms and quit smoking programs. If you are now a smoker who has tried to quit and failed, or if you’re a former smoker, who has passed successfully through the hells of withdrawal, then you too are likely smiling, because you know that smoking is one of the most harmful things ever.

If you are a smoker and you want to quit, you might need to try a different way. There are numerous options to beat the addiction, including simplest and arduous cold turkey quit smoking process. If you are brave enough to quit cold turkey, there is a popular book among ex-smokers titled "The Easy Way to Quit Smoking" by Allen Carr. The book, written by a man who almost let the addiction kill him, is compelling, non-preachy and asks you to use your mind to overcome addiction.

There is no easy way to quit smoking when you have been hooked for a while. You must really be determined to stop. Moreover, you must tough it out no matter what method you use. Take it day by day. Eventually, the cravings become less intense and you begin to feel deep relief.

Talk To Your Doctor

A new year can bring new motivation, but motivation isn’t what will help you quit smoking. You can’t just wake up one morning and expect things to be perfectly smooth from there on, it takes time, it takes effort and it takes some work, but when people engage in groups and take the right treatment, most are able to succeed.

Half of the smokers will try to quit at the start of January each year, but the majority of those who try to use self-control and go cold turkey will not succeed. However, fewer than 10 percent of those who quit cold turkey stop smoking for a year or longer. It's tough because smoker are going to go through nicotine withdrawal; smoker will get depressed, will get the shakes and will get irritable. This could go on for weeks.

Smokers sometimes try other methods to quit, including laser treatments, hypnosis and acupuncture. Few, if any, studies exist on their effectiveness. They all work in the area of suggestion, which can help some people, but another thing that works well is simply talking with your doctor for 15 minutes about why you should stop smoking.

Relapse Experience

Many smokers try to quit without any preparation and education on quit smoking issue. They try just to "NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF". This is route to nowhere. You need to change your attitude to smoking at first. If nicotine addiction secure itself in yours mind, you have no chance to success. If you still thinking that smoking is pleasure or help you to relax or to concentrate, it will be too hard for you to stay smoke free.

Let us talk about relapse experience. You had some cigarettes while quitting and no withdrawal symptoms after it. This is not strange - you just did not get what you think you should get from these cigarettes - pleasure. It was disgusting experience instead of pleasure expected. The key moment is that somewhere inside you, your soul is waiting for some joy and pleasure from smoking. You should say STOP to these feelings. Smoking will never give you any value. If you know it for sure, you will never have reason to check this out with one, two cigarettes or even the pack.

Change Your Mindset

In the long run cold turkey is the easiest, quickest, least expensive and most effective technique of quitting smoking. It only takes 3 days before your blood becomes nicotine free and the symptoms of physical withdrawal reach their peak. There are over one billion ex-smokers on earth today and almost all of them quit cold turkey.

To quit smoking successfully using cold turkey method, simply ensure that you are changing your mindset while you are still smoking. You have to fall out of love with smoking, you have to know why it is a bad habit, you have to know why you do not need it, and you have to know why it is not a part of you. You need to answer all these questions to quit the habit for good, and ensure that being an ex-smoker isn't a day-to-day battle for the years to come.

Do not debate with yourself how much you want a "cigarette." You don't crave a cigarette any more than the heroin addict craves a needle. The cigarette and needle are simply drug delivery devices. What you want is the drug inside. Be honest! Truly, see yourself as "addicted to nicotine" because you are! Just one puff and you will either immediately or shortly thereafter experience full and complete relapse back to your prior level of nicotine use or higher. Do not look at it as taking just "one" puff, look at it as taking all nicotine addiction back.

Never Take Another Puff

Find a smoker who once quit smoking for a large period, say one year or longer and then relapsed. Ask him how he liked not smoking. Ask him how he now likes smoking. Then ask the main question, how did he return to smoking?

Probably answers will look like the ones below. "Not smoking was great. I hardly thought of cigarettes any more. I felt healthier, happier, and even calmer. Cigarettes smelled disgusting. The thought of smoking at my old level was odious." To the second question, how do you now like smoking, the answer will typically be, "I hate it, I smoke as much or even more than I did before. I feel more anxious, do not have as much energy, and generally feel like a fool when smoking in public. I sure wish I could quit again." The answer to the third and most important question of how did he return to smoking is almost always the same, "I took a cigarette."

It may have happened under stress, at a party, or at home alone with nothing-special going on. Whatever the cause, the result was the same - addiction to nicotine and cigarettes smoking. Learn from others' mistakes and not your own. Your smoking friend is folded in powerful and deadly addiction arms. Maybe he will get the chance and strength again to quit smoking; maybe he will smoke until smoking kills him.

You have successfully broken free of the nicotine addiction. While your smoking may have been a potential risk to your life in the past, now your risks are dropping down to that of a person who never smoked. As long as you stay off cigarettes, you never will have to worry about the physical, psychological, social and economical risks of smoking again as long as you follow one simple practice...

Ripe for a smoking cessation product

Two-thirds of regular smokers have tried to quit and failed. Furthermore, nearly 40% of these smokers have tried to quit more than four times but failed every time. Everyone knows quitting smoking is hard to do, but many people do not realize how hard it actually is. The majority of current smokers have tried to quit, but they haven't been successful.

The overwhelming majority of adults who successfully quit smoking (74%) said they did so by going cold turkey and just stopping the habit. Another 8% reported using nicotine replacement products such as the patch or gum to quit. Six percent successfully quit by slowing cutting back on cigarettes, and just 4% said they quit with the help of an oral prescription medication.

This research points to cold turkey as the most successful way to quit smoking, but cold turkey is also smokers’ most commonly attempted method for quitting. 81% of people who quit or attempted to quit tried going cold turkey. Only 21% attempted to quit using a nicotine patch, while only 16% tried nicotine gum.

Manufacturers need to find new creative ways to get more people to try their nicotine replacement products. The market is definitely ripe for a smoking cessation product or method that helps people learn to live without cigarettes for the long term.

Nearly one in five Americans (28%) smokes cigarettes, despite health warnings, rising cigarette prices and local anti-smoking laws. Cigarettes and tobacco products accounted for over $103 billion in sales last year, while smoking cessation products only pulled in $536 million.

Tips to Help You Quit Smoking

Below, some tips to help you quit smoking are listed. First and foremost, set a quit date and quit COMPLETELY on that day. To prepare for that day:

- Identify the times you are most likely to smoke. For example, do you tend to smoke when feeling stressed? When you are out at night with friends? While you are drinking coffee? When you are bored? While you are driving?

- Keep a diary to help you determine such risky times. Record each time you have a cigarette, including time of day and what you are doing.

- Make a plan about what you will do instead of smoking at those times that you are most likely to smoke. For example, drink tea instead of coffee -- tea may not trigger the desire for a cigarette. Or, take a walk when feeling stressed. Remove ashtrays and cigarettes from the car. Place pretzels or hard candies there instead. Pretend-smoke with a straw.

- Let all of your friends, family, and co-workers know of your plan to stop smoking and your quit date. Just being aware that they know can be a helpful reminder and motivator.

- Prior to your quit date, start reducing your cigarette use, including decreasing the number and strength of the cigarettes. However, DON'T do this simply to make your diary "look good!" Get rid of all of your cigarettes just prior to the quit date and clean out anything that smells like smoke, such as clothes and furniture.

Smoking is a global problem

It is estimated that one in three adults smoke, with over 1 billion people smoking worldwide. The majority of these smokers reside in countries on the low end to the middle of the socioeconomic spectrum. Of this majority, about 80% live in low and middle-income countries. The total number of smokers worldwide is expected to keep on increasing each year.

The worldwide popularity of tobacco use varies by social class, historical era, and culture. Historically, smoking had been a pastime of the rich. However, this trend has changed dramatically in recent decades. It appears that financially advantaged men in wealthier countries have been smoking less in recent times.

The World Health Organization has been studying smoking trends and statistical patterns across the globe and has uncovered the following statistics:

1. Eastern Europe has a particularly high rate of smoking, with up to 59% of adult males smoking. In addition, significantly more women smoke in Eastern Europe than in East Asia and the Pacific Region.

2. Most people who smoke, begin smoking before they are 25 years old. Worldwide observations suggest that people are stating to smoke at a much younger age. World Health Organization studies reveal that the majority of smokers in affluent countries; begin in their teens.

Smoking In the US

How do Americans compare to the rest of the world when it comes to smoking? It may come as no surprise to hear that Americans are no better than anyone else. According to the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics:

3. In the US, it is estimated that 25.6 million men (25.2%) and 22.6 million women (20.7%) are smokers. These smokers face a higher risk of heart attack and stroke. Here are the latest estimates for smokers’ aged 18 and above:

4. Studies reveal that smoking popularity is significantly higher among people with 9-11 years of education (35.4%) compared with those with more than 16 years of education (11.6%).

5. There appears to be a correlation between a country's standard of living, level of education, and income and the number of people who have quit smoking. The more and better-informed people are, the more likely they are to quit smoking.

6. People living below the poverty level (33.3%) are much more likely to start smoking.

7. Among whites, 25.1% of men and 21.7% of women smoke.

8. Among black or African Americans, 27.6% of men and 18% of women smoke.

9. Among Asians, 21.3% of men and 6.9% of women smoke.

10. Among Hispanics/Latinos, 23.2% of men and 12.5% of women smoke.

11. Among American Indians/Alaska Natives, 32% of men and 36.9% of women smoke.

12. A shocking…one out of every five five deaths is caused by tobacco.

13. It is estimated that Tobacco is responsible for 400,000 deaths in the US every single year.

14. Cigarettes are responsible for about 25% of deaths from residential fires, causing nearly 1,000 fire-related deaths and 3,300 injuries each year.

15. Tobacco is blamed for many serious cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases

16. Nicotine and tobacco are some of the most potent carcinogens and are responsible for the majority of all cancers of the lung, larynx, trachea, esophagus and bronchus.

17. Smoking tobacco is known to produce cancer in the pancreas, kidney, bladder, and the cervix

18. Because tobacco reduces blood flow, nicotine addiction has been proven to cause impotency.

19. If you smoke, the risk of respiratory illnesses is high. This could lead to pulmonary diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia, which are responsible for some 85,000 every year.

20. Children and adolescents who are active smokers will have increasingly severe respiratory illness, as they grow older

21. Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage and fetal growth retardation. It also causes about 5-6% of prenatal deaths, 17-26% of low-birth-weight births, and 7-10% of pre-term deliveries.

If you do not want to quit smoking after reading these shocking figures, you really need to get your head examined.

Cold turkey to replace methadone for addicts

Heroin addicts will be ordered to undergo "cold turkey" treatment rather than receive methadone* under a Government plan to tackle Scotland's chronic drug problem.

The radical move follows recent research which found that three years after receiving methadone only 3% of addicts remained totally drug-free.

Despite the poor effectiveness of methadone, £12m a year is spent doling out the heroin substitute to 52,000 users. The wider healthcare and crime-related costs of this army of addicts is far higher.

However, backers of methadone insist that it is also a solution, pointing out that less than half of those who go through rehabilitation programmes succeed in coming off drugs.

Bill Nelles, the general secretary of the Methadone Alliance, said recently: "For the people who do respond to methadone they should be able to access methadone for as long as it can be shown it is helping them."

* What is Methadone?
Methadone is an opiate that was first introduced after World War II as an alternative to morphine. Methadone was originally thought to be less addictive because of its extremely long half life. Today, methadone is used as an analgesic for pain management and more popularly as replacement therapy for heroin and other opiate addictions. Methadone is a cheap alternative to other opiate based medications which outweighs it potency when prescribing.