I used to carry a pocket of hard candy around to substitute...also chewed gum for about a year after I quit, this after four unsuccessful attempts. Then I got tired of sucking on candy and chewing gum, and gave those up as well. It seems that first year is the hardest. I used to dream about cigarettes; after seven years I don't do that anymore. One motivating factor is that after five years (or so I've heard) your lungs regain that healthy pink color they once had before being polluted with tar and smoke. That used to be my goal - to make it to the five year point. I've done that and now take it one day at a time, as a "recovered nicotine addict."

Some of the posts above reflect the power this drug has over peoples' lives. You will always be a nicotine addict - but be thankful what with all the other poisons out there to which you could've been addicted, nicotine didn't have the relatively immediate ruination and devastation on your life as other drugs.

I try to remain humble, so when my parents come to visit I set out an ashtray for them, and I don't admonish them for not smoking outside. I figure I can tolerate it for the few short hours they are in my house. And I joke with all my smoking friends, telling them I quit some years ago and would they please blow all their smoke in my face while I inhale deeply. Sometimes they accomodate me.

Good luck, Neil (reformed nicotine addict who is looking contemptuously at his third cup of coffee..... and wondering...hmmmm)