According to new data, it’s not that Americans don’t want to quit smoking; it’s that the process is extremely hard. In fact, 70% of smokers do wish they could quit, but as most people know, it’s no simple task. More than half of the smokers surveyed seriously tried quitting in the past year. Yet the battle against this perilous and expensive habit continues.
Experts claim that aids like medication and counseling can double and sometimes triple the chance that a person will quit smoking successfully. But, only a third of those surveyed used counseling or medication to help their efforts.
Other reasons smokers are feeling the pressure to quit include events like the annual Fantastic American Smoke Out, sponsored by the American Cancer Society. This event is not only an ominous warning that life-long smokers are at much greater risk for being diagnosed with cancer, but also that it just takes one day of saying "no" to cigarettes to start a new life-long habit: quitting, for excellent. The American Cancer Society says that 45 million Americans are smokers, and encourages all of them to use this annual date as a deadline for stopping.
Still other Americans are being persuaded into quitting by their doctors. Nearly half of smokers in the previously mentioned 2010 survey were advised by their doctors to quit smoking. As if this pressure, and pressure from family and friends wasn’t enough, there are also policies in place that are making it harder for smokers to continue as usual. With new bans on public smoking, and efforts to make tobacco more expensive, there are more negative messages about smoking than ever. Studies like this one continue to get at the root of the problem, and hope to encourage more Americans to make a change for the better.
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Jeffrey is a professional blogger and digital nomad whose writing focuses on personal finance and saving people money. His main website is SavingAdvice.com
