So, how DO you quit smoking?
quitting smoking is not easy.
Smoking remains the single biggest cause of preventable illness and death , but people are five times more likely to quit for good if they can make it to at least 28 days smoke free.
Dr Pemberton, who previously worked with addicts, knows how to stop, but he still struggled the first time he tried to give up.
He said: ‘I tried to quit once, and I did it very impulsively and went cold turkey. I didn’t plan it at all and of course after the first couple of days I felt really enthusiastic, but after a while that all went a bit wrong.
‘I went out drinking, got drunk, the next thing I know I have got a cigarette in my hand. Then I thought I could just have one a day, and then it all just descended.’
He added: ‘The second time I tried to quit I wanted to do it properly, so I investigated all the options.’
Eventually, he found weighing up all the pros and cons of smoking finally helped him kick the habit.
He said: ‘It was a hassle smoking up to the quit date, I just wanted to start. I did it and it wasn’t as traumatic as I thought it was going to be.
‘There are so many myths around smoking, such as, nicotine is more addictive than heroin, it is all just not true.
‘If you put someone addicted to heroin in a room and do not give them heroin you would know about it, put someone in a room without cigarettes and they low level m**n, that is it.’
Ms Ross advises people get support from friends and family and change their routine.
She said: ‘Being half-hearted about it is a recipe for failure but being really motivated is really important.
‘People may have a really powerful reason to stop smoking, it could be for their health, it could be for money.’
Ms Ross also suggests vaping as a way of quitting cigarettes, because even though it can still be harmful, she believes it is better than smoking.
She said: ‘Switching to vaping is a really good way of tackling it, because it is not the nicotine that kills it is the smoke. Using nicotine replacement therapy works as well.
‘We are less concerned about longer term nicotine use; the important thing is people just stop smoking.’
She added: ‘If they are vaping to stay smoke free, that is much better than coming off it and then when they have a crisis or at a party and take a cigarette from a friend and then start the cycle all over again.
‘I would much rather people kept the vape on them for those crisis moments rather than going back to smoking.’
There is a range of free quitting tools available including: the NHS Quit Smoking app, Facebook online communities, daily emails and SMS, an online Personal Quit Plan, as well as advice on stop smoking aids, vaping to quit smoking and free expert support from local stop smoking services.
