Cigarettes are silent killers and smoking is like committing hara-kiri in slow motion. If you are not a smoker, then you shouldn't latch on to the habit, and if you are one, then you must enroll with a stop smoking program and give it up immediately. Here are 9 ways that can help you stop smoking forever:

1. You have to steel your mind against smoking before you join any stop smoking programs. Read some case studies where smokers and their families have suffered because of the habit, see pictures of people affected by mouth cancer, read medical reports on smoking and think of the money you will save when you quit – all these will help you get in the right frame of mind.

2. Create a change around you and change your routine. For starters, you can throw out the ashtrays and lighters lying around in your home. Next, latch on to an exercise or sport that can keep you busy and put you in a relaxed frame of mind – remember, a relaxed mind can actually stop you from going back for that one-last-smoke.

3. Steps 1 and 2 above will put you in a positive frame of mind, enabling you to go through the rigors of stop smoking programs without feeling the pain. However, before you start off on any program, you must read and be forewarned about the effects that nicotine withdrawal has on the body – there are plenty of resources on this topic available on the Internet.

4. Cold Turkey is a stop smoking method wherein a smoker gives up smoking all of a sudden – some smokers can handle the withdrawal symptoms, and those who can't need to join a stop smoking program. Maybe you can give this method a try if you are confident and strong enough to take on the withdrawal symptoms.

5. If you feel you cannot completely stop smoking all of a sudden, then the next step is to try nicotine replacement aids. These aids are made up of nicotine chewing gum/lozenges, inhalers, sprays and patches, all of which release enough nicotine into the body to satisfy its craving for nicotine, and yet do not make the smoker feel like picking up a cigarette. The aids are an important part of any stop smoking programs, but reliance on them should gradually be tapered off once the smoking habit is kicked out.

6. Along with the nicotine replacement aids, you may be prescribed an anti-depressant and other drugs that take out the pain caused by nicotine withdrawal. Anti-depressants relax a smoker and keep him relaxed as he goes about the motions described in a stop smoking program.

7. Counseling and group therapy programs also help, but they may not be sufficient by themselves and can be used along with the nicotine replacement therapy.

8. If you are not inclined towards the programs above, you can try out other alternative stop smoking methods such as acupuncture, hypnosis, herbs, filters, laser treatments, etc.

9. Finally, there's this proprietary herbal blend that has helped kick the smoking habit in almost all cases (where it was used). It naturally stops the nicotine craving after the prescribed course is over.