Quitting makes cents
The average pack of cigarettes cost $4.36. At a pack a day, almost $1,600 goes up in smoke every year. A city employee paying the tobacco user’s health insurance contribution of an extra $25 per month is blowing an additional $300 in annual premiums.

Quitting puts that money back in your pocket.

Employees and retirees in the HMO can take advantage of the health benefit that provides coverage up to $185 a year for smoking-cessation prescription drugs or programs.

Kick butts
It may seem impossible to quit, but more than 10,000 Americans do each year. And about 50 percent quit permanently. (Consumer Reports on Health, March 2005.)

“The key to curing tobacco addiction is motivation, which must come from within,” Al-Himyary said. “When counseling patients, I tell them they must first want to quit.”

He gives patients compelling reasons for quitting, such as explaining how smoking cessation carries health benefits for all ages. He explains the 50-50 deal: People who quit before age 50, have a 50-percent less risk of dying over the next 15 years as compared to those who continue to smoke.

“Quitting at any age will improve health and give an improved sense of well being. You will live longer and better,” Al-Himyary said. “It will lower your chance of heart attack, stroke or cancer. And the people you live with, especially your children, will be healthier, too.”

There are a number of ways to quit, including going cold turkey; using nicotine patches, gum, nasal spray or inhalers; and prescription medications that reduce nicotine craving.

Eric Miller, an event coordinator in the Mayor’s Office, said high-school peer pressure led to his addiction.

“It seemed cool at the time,” said Miller, 27, who smoked a pack a day for 10 years. “But being addicted is not cool.”

Miller is quitting with the aid of a patch to reduce his nicotine craving.

“It’s been a couple of months since I’ve had a cigarette,” Miller said. “The patch helps if you’re committed.

“And I definitely am, so I know I’ll make it,” he said.

Some have found success using hypnosis or acupuncture in conjunction with homeopathic supplements.

Molly Waits, a senior marketing specialist in Aviation, was a smoker for 15 years before quitting. She credits hypnosis.

“A friend and I went to our first hypnotist session Aug. 6, and have both quit smoking,” Waits said. “But you have to be truly motivated if you expect hypnotherapy to work.”

Nesbett, who quit cold turkey, believes anyone can succeed with a little help from above.

“I would urge any smoker who wants to quit to never give up no matter how many times they’ve tried and failed,” said Nesbett, 65. “I remember what it felt like. I tried to stop at the rate of once a year for 15 years before succeeding.

“Try a little prayer on the next attempt. It may help. It certainly did me.”

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Breaking a nasty habit: Eric Miller uses a nicotine patch to curb his cravings. Smoke-free for two months, he has more energy and a greater sense of well being. Photo by John Perry.