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If you smoke, you've probably become addicted to nicotine, a chemical in tobacco. This makes it very hard to give up smoking. Most people don't manage to quit the first time they try. You may need to try several times before you're able to stop smoking for good.

There are good treatments that can help you quit smoking. These treatments give you a better chance of stopping smoking than if you rely on willpower alone.

The main thing is, don't give up trying to quit. Half of all smokers eventually manage to stop smoking.¹

• Smoking is the biggest cause of death and illness in the United States.² More than half a million Americans die each year from diseases caused by smoking.³
• Quitting smoking reduces your chances of getting heart disease and cancer, and it may help you live longer.
• Most smokers find it hard to quit because they are addicted to nicotine. Addiction is a serious condition, and you can get help to overcome it.⁴
• You have a better chance of quitting if you use nicotine replacement therapy and if you get professional help.
• An antidepressant drug called bupropion (brand name Zyban) helps many people quit. This drug can help you quit even if you aren't depressed.
• A newer drug, called varenicline (brand name Chantix) may work better than buproprion.

Most people who smoke are addicted to nicotine. This is a chemical that's found in tobacco. It doesn't matter whether you smoke cigarettes, cigars or a pipe, or if you chew tobacco. It's the nicotine that gives you a "hit." And it's because your body needs those hits from nicotine to feel "normal" and well that you keep up your habit.

• Nicotine reaches your brain about 10 seconds after you take a drag on a cigarette.⁵
• It helps your brain make a chemical called dopamine. Dopamine plays a part in making us feel pleasure.⁶
• People who smoke say it makes them feel relaxed, and there's some evidence that nicotine may make you feel more alert.
• It may also help you concentrate and put you in a better mood.

If you're addicted, from time to time you feel that you have to have a smoke. You crave a cigarette. You find it hard to stop smoking, or you get withdrawal symptoms when you try to stop. You might feel miserable or find it hard to concentrate, for example.

You might want to read more about what we know about nicotine and why it's so easy to get addicted.

If you smoke, chances are you started when you were a teenager, probably because your friends smoked. Most teens say that another reason they smoke is because it helps them feel less stressed.⁷

About 1 in 8 boys who smoke say they do it because it's "cool," while 1 in 6 girls say they smoke to stay slim.⁷

Many young people try out smoking at some point. A big problem is that you may not realize smoking is addictive until you're hooked.⁸ Also, certain things seem to increase a person's chances of becoming addicted to nicotine. Doctors call these risk factors. The risk factors for getting addicted to nicotine include:⁷

• Smoking as a teenager
• Coming from a poorer background
• Family problems
• Feeling depressed
• Being physically or sexually abused
• Having parents who smoke.

Other things seem to protect against getting addicted. These include:⁷

• Being close to your parents
• Taking part in activities outside school or work, such as sports.

If this describes you, you may not be physically addicted, but you're probably psychologically addicted. If you need to smoke when your friends smoke, you'll find it hard to quit.

• Even if you're not addicted, smoking still harms your health.
• And smoking can hurt people close to you, too. People can breathe in smoke from your cigarettes. This "second-hand" smoke can cause breathing problems in children. And adults can get lung cancer from smoke without ever having a cigarette.⁹ To find out more about this, see What smoking does to other people.

Don't be fooled by the word "light" on your pack of cigarettes. They may be lower in nicotine but that won't help protect your health. Here's why.

• If you smoke regularly (even just a few cigarettes a week), you're still addicted.
• You get all the same harmful chemicals from light cigarettes as you get from standard ones.
• Light cigarettes may actually be more harmful. If the cigarette gives you less nicotine than your body is used to, you'll have to smoke more or inhale more deeply to get the same effect.
• So you may be sucking harmful chemicals deeper into your lungs than you would if you smoked stronger brands.¹⁰

Although most people don't inhale when they drag on a cigar, they still hold the smoke in their mouth, and they also breathe in smoke from the air around them. So the poisonous chemicals in tobacco smoke get into their lungs and their body.

• Cigar smokers are just as likely to get mouth and throat cancer as cigarette smokers.
• They're also much more likely to get lung cancer and other diseases linked to smoking than people who don't smoke.

There may be other chemicals in tobacco smoke that play a part in addiction.⁶ But researchers are only just beginning to find out about them.