How do you help a friend stop smoking?

Question

A really good friend of mine is a smoker.He has 2 kids and is 24 years old. He spends like almost $150 on cigs every month. Smoking 1 to 2 packs a day I think. Im best friends with his girlfriend and he is like a brother to me. I told her I would help her come up with some ideas. I dont care if we annoy the c**p out of him about it.Hopefully he will relize one day how lucky he is. His gf has tried the hole look how much money you save and how it can kill you kind of thing.She even wrote on his box with pernament marker this will kill you. He did really good for awhile on only smoking so much a week then he started doing more again.I think he wants to but he cant do it. What can I do to help him or were can I dind info? We also tried telling him he is setting a bad example for his kids.

Answer 1

You can take him to a hospital or convalescent home and let him talk to some people that are dying of emphysema or lung cancer. Let him see how fast the diseases progresses and how they suffer for weeks and months gasping for each and every breath, choking on their own phlegm. It's an awful way to die. My dad quit smoking by replacing his cig's with sunflower seeds. It was something he could do while driving, and after his meals and he still had the hand to mouth thing going on. He kept sunflower seeds with him all the time. Help him to stay away from activities that trigger in him the desire to smoke. I smoked for about a year and I quit. I only smoked like 3 times a day because I didnt want to make a life long habit of it. I put restrictions on when and wear i smoked. From the beginning I decided never to smoke around my children, and never smoke in my house. So when I would go to my nightclass I would have a cigarette and on the way home. after the kids went to bed i would have some beer and smoke again, that was it. But i also made a ritual like everytime after i smoked i would come in wash my face and hands and brush my teeth and change my shirt so i wouldnt smell like smoke to my kids ( i probably still did). but that ritual got so tedious by the time  i was ready to stop that it made it a lot easier. also i started leaving my cigarettes at home  instead of lighting up as soon as i got in the car

Answer 2

It's his decision. But suggest that he get a prescription for Chantix.

Answer 3

If you were really good friends as you claim you are, you would accept him as he is. So what if he smokes? I'm sure you're not perfect either, but would you want correcting you and telling you what to do all of the time? I'm sure you wouldn't. So just let it go, mind your own business, and let him do as he pleases. If you're not careful you could lose him as that brotherly friend. Hopefully one day you'll realize how lucky you are.  

Answer 4

The best way is to show him that you guys (er....gals) don't want to be around people who smoke. It might suck, but leaving him, and telling him that you don't want to be around him b/c he smokes will probably be most effective. If he cares enough, he'll stop smoking. If he needs help, get him on the quitting patches, gum, etc. or get him into a rehab-ish program