Here's four things I've learned about quitting.

Quitting smoking? Actually pretty easy.

I was, as they say in Palmerston North, totally maggot.

One week to go - only one week until I can go back to smoking 20 cigarettes a day.

Today, I look like a cartoonish stoner in a suit.

When you deprive your body of a substance it's addicted to, some pretty weird sh** starts to happen.

Secondhand smoke. You either love it or hate it. Sometimes it's both.

Maybe it was complacency, or naive bravado, or simple, glorious stupidity. I thought I had this beat.

Somehow I went 12 hours without putting on a patch. And I didn't even notice.

Shelley Bridgeman shares what eventually led her to quit smoking. Nicotine patches, e-cigarettes and going cold-turkey had nothing to do with it.

The act of lighting up - once the signifier of youthful rebellion and effortless chic - has became seriously uncool.

I haven't felt alone for a moment since I quit smoking. And it's in no small part thanks to you.

The only thing preventing me from having a complete, catastrophic meltdown is an overblown sticking plaster.

It finally happened. I didn't just snap. I totally lost it.

I know quitting has its ups and downs. Tomorrow might be harder. But today, despite my body's protests, I felt at ease.

It's easier not to smoke when you're asleep. I'll try not to wake up this month.

There I was, tossing up whether to lick the cigarette butts in the ashtray, hoping for even a glimmer of that nicotine buzz.

Journalist Matthew Backhouse chronicles his efforts to quit smoking for Stoptober in a daily diary.

Smokers who live for a long time may have specific genes promoting a lengthy lifespan, a US study has found.

While many users perceive e-cigs as safer than traditional cigarettes, some of the flavorings that make them so enticing may have their own toxic consequences.

Thousands of Kiwis will be kicking smoking to the curb for Stoptober this year.