8% of Smokers Who Try to Quit Succeed, Survey Says

Only about 8% of American adults who try to quit smoking actually succeed, the government reported Thursday.

“That shows you exactly how addictive smoking is,” said Michael Eriksen, director of the Office on Smoking and Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Despite what the tobacco companies are saying, smokers know they’re addicted.”

The figures were based on a 1993 survey by the CDC of nearly 21,000 adults selected at random and questioned in person. The participants identified themselves as daily smokers, occasional smokers, former smokers or nonsmokers. The CDC let those surveyed classify themselves, without defining all categories.

Thirty-four percent of the nation’s 46 million smokers try to quit each year, and many find the habit harder to kick than they imagined, the CDC said.

Of those who try to quit, just 8%, or about 1 million people, succeed, whether they try nicotine patches, counseling, hypnosis or the cold turkey method, the agency said.

The proliferation of restrictions on smoking at work and in public--such as the one recently passed by New York’s City Council--can help people kick the habit, Eriksen said. People forced to go without for an eight-hour workday often decide to give up smoking altogether.

The survey found that the percentage of adults who smoke has held steady around 25% during the 1990s, after dropping from 42.4% from 1965 to 1990, the CDC said.