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It is very difficult to stop smoking . The social pressure on smokers to quit increases every year No one smokes inside anymore. Millions of people have managed to quit. The route to stopping smoking is different than anything else we do. Most smokers that want to quit try and fail at least four times before succeeding. Many smokers fail twelve or more times before kicking the habit. We have all heard the reports of former heroin addicts saying that stopping smoking was more difficult than quitting heroin. I suspect this may just be bravado. No one doubts that quitting smoking is very tough and has thwarted many good people, including myself. That's why I can't stop smoking. I have failed repeatedly like so many others. Over time I was coming to believe that my tobacco addiction was stronger than me and I would never be able to quit before it broke my health. Fortunately I was wrong and eventually got it right.

The evidence of detrimental health effects is so overwhelming that even the Marlboro Cowboy has conceded that smoking causes premature death. Now days no one would dare claim that smoking was not addictive and harmful to health. The tobacco companies used that argument for years to resist liability. So is there hope for us smokers? This is where it gets interesting.

Studies have shown that each successive time you try to quit, the probability of success increases. Success rates at the first attempt at quitting may only be 5% or less but the success rate at the fifth serious attempt approaches 50%. So the moral of this story is quite clear, keep trying, keep trying, and you will be able to stop. Don't let your past failures keep you from trying again. Instead do do your homework and come back and win this time..