Stopping smoking

• Stopping smoking is always beneficial to heath and it is never too late to quit
• While nicotine is the addictive substance in cigarettes, most of the harm comes from other chemicals in cigarette smoke
• Most people make several attempts to quit before they finally succeed
• Quit success can be increased up to threefold with the help of behavioural support and pharmacological treatment
• Stop smoking aids include Nicotine Replacement Therapy, vaping and prescription-only medications, and are especially effective in combination with behavioural support

Most people who smoke want to quit. In 2025, 53% of adults who smoke said they wanted to stop.

Stopping smoking is always beneficial to heath and it is never too late to quit. Every cigarette smoked damages the lungs in a way that may not show until later in life. After the age of 35-40 years, for every year of continued smoking, a person loses about 3 months of life expectancy.

Even those who are already sick from smoking related disease, can benefit from quitting because it is likely to reduce their symptoms, improve treatment outcomes and increase their chances of survival. 

Many people who do continue smoking, do so not by choice, but because they are dependent. It’s important to remember that while nicotine is the addictive substance in cigarettes, it is the thousands of other chemicals in tobacco smoke that cause almost all of the harm. For further information read 'What's in a cigarette?' and ASH’s briefing on the health effects of nicotine.

Using licensed stop smoking medicines, including prescription tablets and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), can double the chances of successfully quitting. Vapes (also known as e-cigarettes) can also be effective for quitting smoking, especially when combined with additional support.

The chances of success of any given quit attempt get higher the more times someone tries. Most people make several attempts to quit before they finally succeed.

Quit success can be increased up to threefold with the help of behavioural support and pharmacological treatment. People can find help to quit at NHS Smokefree and check online for their local stop smoking service. There is more information about local stop smoking services on the NHS website.

The NCSCT provides training and assessment programmes for stop smoking advisers and conducts research into behavioural support for smoking cessation.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issues guidance on smoking cessation.

Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) includes nicotine chewing gum, patches, lozenges, mouth spray, inhalators, microtabs and nasal spray and is usually taken for 8 to 12 weeks, although it can be used long term. NRT products can be purchased from a pharmacist and in some shops or obtained on prescription from a GP or qualified Stop Smoking Advisor.

NRT is designed to reduce the motivation to smoke by replacing nicotine from cigarettes. By alleviating nicotine withdrawal symptoms, the transition from cigarette smoking to complete abstinence is easier. Clinical trials have consistently found that NRT increases the success of quitting smoking by 50–70%.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that people who are committed to quitting should be offered NRT to support their quit attempt and that more heavily addicted smokers may be offered a combination of NRT products if required.

Using a nicotine vape or electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) is considerably less harmful than smoking tobacco cigarettes in the short and medium term. Vapes are not risk-free and their long-term health impact is unknown, however they are likely to be far less harmful than smoking.

Vapes are one of the most effective stop smoking aids, especially when combined with behavioural support. An estimated 2.5 million adults in Britain quit smoking with a vape in the last five years. A major systematic review concluded that people using nicotine-containing vapes are almost twice as likely to successfully quit smoking than those using other nicotine replacement products, like patches or gum.

Most stop smoking services in England can provide advice about using a vape to quit smoking and some will be able to offer free vapes to those making a quit attempt. 

Guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) advises health professionals to inform people who want to quit smoking that:

• Many people have found vapes helpful for stopping smoking
• People using vapes should stop smoking tobacco completely, because any smoking is harmful
• The evidence suggests that vapes are substantially less harmful to health than smoking, but are not risk-free 

For more information on vapes please see ASH – Vaping, what you need to know, NHS guidance on using vapes to quit and NCSCT guidance for stop smoking services.

Varenicline (Champix) is a prescription-only medication which comes as a course of tablets lasting 12 weeks. Varenicline works by preventing nicotine from reaching nicotine receptors in the brain and by stimulating dopamine production both of which make cigarettes less satisfying. Clinical trials have found varenicline to be more effective in helping people stop smoking than either bupropion or placebo. A Cochrane review of varenicline trials concluded that the drug doubled the chances of successfully quitting compared to unassisted quitting.

Bupropion (Zyban) is a prescription-only medication which comes as a course of tablets lasting around 8 weeks. Bupropion works by reducing (or entirely alleviating) cravings and nicotine withdrawal by blocking the pleasure people feel when using tobacco. Clinical trials have found that bupropion significantly increases the chance of quitting. Bupropion is not as effective as varenicline, but it can be helpful for those who cannot take varenicline (for example, due to drug interactions).

Cytisinicline (also known as cytisine) is a prescription-only medication which comes as a course of tablets lasting 25 days. It became available in the UK in 2024. Cytisinicline works in a similar way to varenicline, by partially stimulating the same nicotine receptors in the brain while also preventing nicotine from attaching to them. This helps to reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms and makes smoking less satisfying. Clinical trials and a Cochrane review have found that cytisinicline significantly increases the chances of quitting smoking compared with placebo.

Hypnosis, acupuncture, aversion therapy and other treatments may help some people but there is little evidence showing they are effective. A review of published studies found that these treatments might help some people to quit but that further evidence was needed to establish whether the treatments are as effective as medication. Herbal cigarettes are not a suitable alternative - you continue to get tar, carbon monoxide and other harmful substances, but nothing to help you deal with nicotine withdrawal.

A study following male British doctors for 50 years found that stopping smoking at age 30, 40, 50 or 60 gains, respectively, about 10, 9, 6 or 3 years of life expectancy. A similar study of British women also found that stopping smoking before the age of 40 avoids more than 90% of the increased risk of dying caused by continuing to smoke, while stopping before the age of 30 avoids over 97% of the increased risk.

Some of the health benefits from stopping smoking can occur quite quickly as the table below shows. Other health improvements are seen over the course of a number of years, depending on how long a person has smoked.

Source: NHS Better Health website