Why is it so Hard to Quit Smoking?
Why is smoking so hard to quit? We look at how nicotine tricks the brain into thinking tobacco’s good for us and ask addiction experts the best way to give up.
A billion people across the world smoke cigarettes, and many would agree it’s the hardest habit to quit. One such smoker, listener Sharif, emailed CrowdScience from Uzbekistan to ask if we could find out why giving up is so difficult. Marnie Chesterton travels to San Francisco to meet addiction experts and discovers how nicotine tricks smokers into thinking tobacco’s good for them. And we meet ex-smokers at a weekly therapy session aimed at retraining the brain.
Do you have a question we can turn into a programme? Email us at [email protected]
Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producer: Marijke Peters
(Image: Lit cigarette. Credit: Getty Images)
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Why nicotine is more addictive than heroin
Duration: 01:44
Broadcasts
- Fri 14 Jul 201719:32GMTBBC World Service except News Internet
- Sat 15 Jul 201722:32GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Sat 15 Jul 201723:32GMTBBC World Service except Americas and the Caribbean, East and Southern Africa, News Internet & West and Central Africa
- Mon 17 Jul 201702:32GMTBBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean
- Mon 17 Jul 201704:32GMTBBC World Service except Americas and the Caribbean, East and Southern Africa, News Internet & West and Central Africa
- Mon 17 Jul 201706:32GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa
- Mon 17 Jul 201713:32GMTBBC World Service Australasia
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