Smoking Cessation

Since the report of the Surgeon General in 1964, and subsequent passage of many restrictive laws, cigarette smoking in the United States has fallen from near 50 percent to a fairly unvarying 21 percent of “incorrigible” smokers. The hypnosis literature is full of reports claiming high rates of success, but with only short term, verbal follow up. I give them little credence because smokers often lie to their doctors to avoid being reprimanded. Very few people resume smoking after a year of abstinence, and I hope we will see a prospective controlled study with chemical follow-up at one year.