Today is World Smokefree Day - and another day closer to the Government's plans to enforce a full smoking ban by 2025.
To mark the occasion, Seven Sharp reporter and reformed smoker Mike Thorpe spoke to Dr Chris Atkinson, an associate professor of oncology at St George’s Cancer Care Centre in Christchurch, to help you kick the habit.
"There is a time in every person who smokes' life where they sort of think, 'I don't need to do this, and that's when you need help,'" Dr Atkinson said.
Smokers are four times more likely to kick the habit with the help of a healthcare professional, such as a family doctor, a pharmacist, or a helpline.
Dr Atkinson said it's hard to stop "because the addiction is complex".
"There's lots of different types of nicotine - there's lots of different influences that an addict has."
Smoking influences have lessened over the years as the Government tackles the habit, with cigarette ads being taken off the air, and tobacco sponsorship and smoking in bars being banned.
"I'd like to believe it [will happen] but by gosh, we've got a lot of work to do in the next seven years."
The percentage of smokers is currently at 16 per cent - a sharp decline from 33 per cent in 1983.
"700,000 Kiwis have given up and I think they've given up because the message is out there that it hurts people. Tobacco is hurting people."
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