The Quit Ledger

KeysKeys 1 to 5 are the stages of a quit. The sigma key opens the table of every figure.

Fig. 02From the ledger

67.7% of US adults who smoked said they wanted to quit smoking (2022).

SourceCDC, Smoking Cessation: Fast Facts2022

The Quit Ledger puts every claim about quitting smoking next to its number and its source. No estimates, no stories, and nothing to sell.

See every figureRead this one in full

Each square is one in a hundred. Filled squares restate the figure; the rest of the grid is the remainder.

The ledger

One figure for each topic, in the order a quit tends to run

Each line below shows the headline figure from that topic page, what it measures and who published it. Open a line for the full page and its sources.

Stage 1

Why it holds

How nicotine dependence works, who wants to quit, and how mood and smoking are tangled together.

  1. 6%How nicotine dependence worksof smokers are able to quit in a given year, per NIDA (reported as about 6 percent)NIDA, Is nicotine addictive? (Tobacco, Nicotine, and E-Cigarettes Research Report) 2021
  2. 67.7%Quit attempts and success ratesof US adults who smoked said they wanted to quit smoking (2022)CDC, Smoking Cessation: Fast Facts 2022
  3. 27.2%Quitting and mental healthof US adults with a mental health condition reported smoking cigarettes in the past month (2019)CDC, People with Behavioral Health Conditions Experience a Health Burden From Commercial Tobacco 2019

Stage 2

Plan

Choosing a date, comparing the evidence for each approach, and other tobacco products.

  1. 5.3%Preparing to quitof US adults who tried or recently succeeded in quitting used both counselling and medication (2022)CDC, Smoking Cessation: Fast Facts 2022
  2. 14%Quit methods comparedof people quitting were likely to succeed long term with e-cigarettes, varenicline or cytisine, versus 6% without aidsCochrane, E-cigarettes, varenicline and cytisine are the most effective stop-smoking aids (news summary of CD015226) 2023
  3. 28Smokeless and other tobaccoor more of the chemicals in smokeless tobacco have been found to cause cancerNCI, Smokeless Tobacco and Cancer 2026

Stage 3

Tools

Replacement therapy, prescription medicines, counselling, and where vaping fits.

  1. 1.55×Nicotine replacement therapythe chance of quitting at six months or more with any nicotine replacement (risk ratio, 133 trials)Cochrane, Nicotine replacement therapy versus control for smoking cessation (CD000146) 2018
  2. 8Prescription medicinesextra people quit per 100 using varenicline versus control (95% credible interval 6 to 10)Cochrane Library, Pharmacological and electronic cigarette interventions for smoking cessation in adults (CD015226) 2023
  3. 10%Counselling and quitlinesof helpline callers given extra telephone counselling quit for six months or more, up from 7% without itCochrane, Does telephone counselling help people stop smoking? (CD002850) 2019
  4. 4Vaping and quittingmore quitters per 100 might result with nicotine e-cigarettes than with nicotine replacement therapy (high-certainty evidence)Cochrane, Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation (Lindson et al.) 2025

Stage 4

First weeks

Withdrawal, weight, and the slips that are common on the way.

  1. 3daysWithdrawal timelineis the window in which nicotine withdrawal usually peaks, inside a first week that is usually the worstNCI, Handling Nicotine Withdrawal and Triggers When You Decide To Quit Tobacco 2022
  2. 4.67Quitting and weight gainkg average weight gain 12 months after quitting, in people who quit without treatment (BMJ meta-analysis)BMJ, Weight gain in smokers after quitting cigarettes: meta-analysis (Aubin et al.) 2012
  3. 8.8%Relapse and slipsof US adults who smoked were able to successfully quit smoking in the past year (2022 data)CDC, Smoking Cessation: Fast Facts 2022

Stage 5

After

How the body recovers, smoking and stroke, and how to help someone else.

  1. 1yearAfter you quitafter quitting, the NHS says risk of heart attack will have halved compared with a smoker'sNHS Better Health, Quit smoking 2026
  2. 34%Smoking and strokelower risk of stroke for former smokers than current smokers in a 12-year follow-up study cited by WHOWHO, Tobacco and Stroke (WHO Tobacco Knowledge Summaries) 2016
  3. 40%Supporting someone who is quittingof smokers who quit say that support from others mattered a lot in their successSmokefree.gov, Quit Notes on How to Support Your Quitter October 2026

How a figure earns its place

  1. It names its publisher

    A figure is used only if the editors opened a page that shows it, and the publisher and document are printed beside it.

  2. It carries a year

    Surveys change from year to year, so every figure says which year it refers to and when it was last checked.

  3. It is never estimated

    If no opened source gives a number for a topic, the page says so instead of showing a guess.

How figures are checkedAbout the publication