Breaking the Cigarette Habit

Many methods have been used to assist the individual to discontinue cigarette smoking. A limited measure of success has been obtained by means of educational campaigns, psychotherapy, or pharmacological aids. Combinations of these therapeutic methods in smoking treatment clinics have produced only temporary alteration of cigarette-smoking habits. Review of the accumulated experience to date suggests that further development of methods for terminating the cigarette habit should include emphasis on the psychological and social factors which perpetuate the habit, reinforcement of the habit of "not smoking" for at least two years, and elevation of smoking treatments on the basis of long-term results.