Smokers often quit by themselves and generally maintain their non-smoking status on their own, says Dr. Jaime Gofin, who is involved in smoking cessation and smoking prevention programs at the Hebrew University-Hadassah school of public health and community medicine. Firm support from a doctor or a marital partner, however, can be very helpful as a smoker gets over the first difficult period, says Gofin. He also thinks that laws restricting smoking in public places are crucial: They make non-smoking the norm and the smoker the outsider.

Gofin says primary care workers (doctors, nurses) should be trained to help smokers quit. To this end, the Israel Cancer Association (ICA) and the Health Ministry's health education unit prepared a detailed booklet on the subject. The booklet, sent to every doctor in the country, suggests when and how doctors should recommend smoking cessation, different techniques for helping the patient quit, and ideas for helping the new non-smoker remain a non-smoker.

Many smokers say they don't quit because they are afraid they will gain weight. [Mordechai Blittner] says that people do add a couple of kilograms the month after they stop smoking, because they suddenly can taste, smell and enjoy their food again. There are also metabolical changes which contribute to this small weight gain. But Blittner finds that these extra pounds come off easily within a month or so, unless the ex-smoker had a tendency to overeat in the first place.