Patches, gum, lozenges and hypnotism ... none of it worked for me in the long term. If an effective remedy had existed back then, I would have jumped at itIf there was a five-minute nuclear warning, I’d run straight to my local shop and buy a pack of cigarettes. Even now, after all these years. I stopped more than a decade ago – note that I say “stopped” rather than “gave up” because the latter implies a sacrifice, and I have been brainwashed (OK, hypnotised) not to use the term. But you are never really a non-smoker. You are just a smoker who is currently not smoking. In your soul, you are forever one of the people who leave the table after eating to go and have a conversation outside, even if you physically stay put these days.So, as someone who found it difficult to quit, it’s baffling to hear that although two stop-smoking medications have been available in the UK since 2024, only 0.2% of those attempting to give up have used them, according to an analysis of NHS data on smoking...