Quitting smoking is one of the most important things you can do for your health. It can be hard — but you don't have to do it alone, and the key is to keep trying. More than half of U.S. adults who have ever smoked have quit. The American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout invites people to make it their quit day, with resources for workplaces, health systems and communities.
Treatments that work
Many people who smoke become addicted to nicotine, which makes quitting hard. But proven treatments help:
| How it helps | |
|---|---|
| Counseling | a quit coach or health professional helps you build a plan and prepare for stress and urges. Quitlines are free, confidential and proven to raise your odds of quitting and staying quit |
| Medicines | seven FDA-approved medicines ease withdrawal and cravings: they make quitting less painful, are much safer than smoking, and help you through the hardest times |
| Both together | gives the best chance of quitting |
Many treatments may be free or covered by insurance.
One man's story
Noel S., who shares his story with CDC, started smoking menthol cigarettes at 13 in Brooklyn, where most of his friends smoked. For more than 20 years he smoked two packs a day. Cigarettes woke him through the night, cost him a job as a ride-share driver when passengers complained about the smell, and kept him from flying to his beloved uncle's funeral in Puerto Rico. At 36, he had a heart attack. Realizing smoking would kill him, and wanting to see his young relatives grow up, he quit, changed his diet and began exercising — and has been smokefree since.
What quitting does
Quitting helps at any age, however long or heavily you've smoked. It:
- improves health and quality of life
- lowers the risk of early death — adding as much as 10 years of life
- lowers the risk of heart disease, COPD, cancer and reproductive problems
- helps people who already have heart disease or COPD, and can improve the outlook for people with cancer
- protects pregnant women and their babies
- eases the financial burden on smokers, health care and society
- is the single best way to protect family, friends and coworkers from secondhand smoke
Free help to quit
| Quitline | 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) |
| Español | 1-855-DÉJELO-YA (1-855-335-3569) |
| 中文 | 1-800-838-8917 |
| 한국어 | 1-800-556-5564 |
| Tiếng Việt | 1-800-778-8440 |
| Text | QUITNOW to 333888 (message and data rates may apply) |
| Online | CDC: Quit Smoking · Smokefree.gov · Asian Smokers' Quitline |
Sources
Based on "Great American Smokeout: Make Today Your Quit Day!" (January 31, 2025), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain; rewritten in hubnx's own words.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.cdc.gov
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