TEN WAYS TO GIVE UP SMOKING

THE shortlist

Acupuncture. Practitioners believe the insertion of needles at precise points on the body restores its balance of energy, or "ch'i", as well as releasing endorphins, the body's own opiate-like painkillers. Laser treatment works in a similar way, backed up with the advice to do something different every time the craving occurs. British Acupuncture Council (0181-964 0222).

QUIT is a national stop-smoking charity. Its counsellors give advice on products, and help in dealing with the various symptoms. The emphasis is on practical encouragement, not finger-wagging. Phone the Quitline free on 0800 002200.

Allen Carr's The Easy Way to Stop Smoking claims the secret lies in "understanding the nature of the trap" and does not believe in the excuse of an addictive personality, or the use of substitutes. The book is to be read cover to cover, with the incentive that if you fail you go back to page one.

Nicotine patches cost up to pounds 2 a day, so they don't provide immediate financial freedom for alternative treats. Tests show a lower long-term success rate than for hypnosis, but they are thought to be useful in combination with other methods.

Smoke aversion therapy (a glorified term for having stale smoke blown back into your face). Tests at the University of Iowa showed a success rate of 25 per cent.

Flotation. The deep relaxation of being submerged in a tank of salt water at blood temperature has turned some smokers around. Tel 0800 413416 for nearest centre.

Richard Klein's Cigarettes are Sublime is a romantic farewell. Klein wrote the book as a homage to cigarettes - a fond farewell from someone hoping to give up. He believes few people would smoke if it was actually good for you, describing cigarettes' seduction as "power and beauty", and more flamboyantly as "a great and beautiful civilising tool".

Cold turkey may be the only answer, even if it does leave you wanting to gnaw your limbs off. In the past, the island of Lundy in the Bristol Channel has organised 10-day give-up retreats. No cigarettes are allowed, and no other smuggling tourists permitted but some counselling to get you through.

Tapping the subconscious. Occasionally, as in the case of publishing executive Ron Morgans, the unconscious has risen to get the message across. After eight years of attempts to give up he awoke to see an apparition in red and blue neon which read: "You have met your assassin." The ghost of cigarettes past scared him into stopping.

The Health Education Authority's National Smoking Education Campaign aims to reduce the number of adult smokers, especially parents. It kicks off on January 10 with a Break Free roadshow at Whiteley's Shopping Centre in west London, to be followed by other roadshows up and down the land throughout the year.

Compiled by Pascal Wyse