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None of tfiese impediinents are present when people stop smoking. Since 1964, more than 

 40 million people have stopped smoking permanently without any outside intervention or assistance. 

 The overwhelming majority (approximately 95% of smokers) have quit on their own. With hard 

 drug addiction, self-help quitting, or 'spontaneous remission" to borrow the Surgeon General's term, 

 is an extremely rare occurrence. For the cigarette smoker, my clinical experience and numerous 

 studies have dentonstrated that the components of successful abstinence are commitment, personal 

 responsibility and self-efficacy. By self-efficacy I mean a person reasonably believing he can 

 accomplish an undertaking. As with successful dieting, the smoker must abandon a pleasurable 

 activity and modify a behavior in order to obtain a greater long term benefit. The smoker need not, 

 however, rebuild his life to succeed. Neither does he face perpetual struggle requiring therapeutic 

 support. 



It is often claimed that the strength of the so-called addiction to tobacco is shown by the fact 

 that when put on the spot, 80% of smokers claim to wish that they could stop. The same could be 

 said of overweight people, those in need of exercise, or those engaging in any other habit that is 

 frowned upon by others. It says nothing about addiction or the difficulty experienced in changing 

 habiu. As noted above, in order to change a habit, one must commit to change, have a positive 

 attitude and follow through. This is precisely how the 40 million former smokers successfully 

 stopped on their own when they chose to. 



Labeling smokers as hard drug addicts tends to destroy those components that are necessary 

 to successful quitting. It makes smokers feel like victims who must receive "treatment" to be 

 successful non-smokers. The facts reveal this to be untrue. In reality, much of what I do when I 



