Final answer:
Quitting tobacco is often a difficult process that requires multiple attempts. Nicotine replacement therapy helps but has a high relapse rate. Awareness of health risks alone is not always effective in helping smokers quit.
Step-by-step explanation:
Successfully quitting tobacco use often takes multiple attempts. In various studies including data from the United Kingdom and Australia, a significant majority of smokers attempt to quit each year, but only a small percentage remain abstinent after a year. Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), with options such as chewing gum, lozenges or skin patches, provides enough nicotine to stave off cravings without the high, but up to 90% relapse within the first year. Understandably, the path to quitting is challenging due to nicotine's addictive properties causing withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, anxiety, and a persistent craving for cigarettes.
Educational programs, while informative about the risks from smoking and its status as a leading cause of preventable death, show minimal success in persuading smokers to quit, indicating that most smokers are well aware of the potential harm. Smoking's deadly impact is highlighted by the grim statistic that half of the smokers may eventually die from their habit, and smoking is recognized as "the single most important preventable risk to human health" in developed countries. Despite the difficulties, quitting has immediate health benefits, including a reduced risk of heart disease within a year of stopping.