Placing Tobacco Users at the Center of Cessation Research to Inform State Tobacco Control Program Initiatives

Treating tobacco and nicotine dependence requires both effective and personalized options. In fact, in a study involving adults who currently use tobacco, despite strong motivation to quit, most struggled with dependence, stress, triggers, and lack of readiness, all of which ultimately limited their ability to stay quit. Those in the study shared that strategies to address stress and triggers would be a step to establishing readiness to quit. They also emphasized the value for connection during a quit attempt, including peer support and support from others who share lived experience with tobacco dependence and cessation. 

Other central themes from this study include choice; people struggling with tobacco dependence want choice and shared decision-making in their quit journey. They also desire recognition and understanding of tobacco dependence in parity with other substance use disorders and cited the need to destigmatize smoking and tobacco use. This calls for a need to change the narrative of tobacco use from being described as a behavior to being acknowledged as a chronic health condition.