So why are there still 44.5 million smokers nationwide?

And why is smoking such a difficult habit to break?

"It's hard work to quit smoking," said Dr. Tim McAfee, chief medical officer for the Hawaii Tobacco Quitline and a family physician in Seattle. "The key to success is translating the intent to quit into action ... Anybody can be successful at it."

MOST WANT TO QUIT

About 70 percent of all smokers say they want to quit, according to the CDC.

But quitting takes more work than most smokers realize.

"People believe that their will power is stronger than their addiction to nicotine," said Dr. Paul Morris, general and thoracic surgeon at The Queen's Medical Center. "That's simply not true."

Nicotine is a drug found naturally in tobacco. It's highly addictive — as addictive as heroin or cocaine, according to the American Cancer Society.

Over time, the body becomes physically and psychologically dependent on the drug, which produces a pleasurable feeling that makes the smoker want to smoke more.

In addition, there's the social aspect of smoking.

Many smokers light up in social situations, whether on breaks with co-workers or in bars with friends. Alcohol consumption often accompanies smoking.

Scott Ishikawa, 25, started smoking right after high school. It quickly became part of his social scene.

"When I first started, I never thought I'd be addicted," said the financial adviser from Mililani, who quit just last week. "At first, I'd only smoke when I drank, then only when I drank and was stressed out."

Before he knew it, he was smoking more than a pack a day.

"I like it, but it's an addiction," he said. "It's a love-hate relationship."

Ishikawa is one of thousands of smokers who are getting help with their addiction.

He opted to use medication — the newly FDA-approved Chantix (varenicline tartrate) — to curb his craving and ease withdrawal symptoms.

(The other, more popular medication is Zyban, or bupropion hydrochloride, an antidepressant that has been found to reduce the urge to smoke.)

But medication isn't the only way to quit.

The FDA has approved the use of five other types of nicotine-replacement therapies — patches, gum, lozenges, inhalers and nasal sprays — which have proven effective in reducing symptoms and helping smokers kick the habit. Most can be purchased at drugstores.

There are also alternative smoking-cessation methods, including hypnosis, acupuncture and low-level laser therapy.

Studies have shown that tobacco users are up to three times more likely to quit successfully if they receive help, whether from group counseling or nicotine patches.

"This is such a good time to quit because we know so much more about the resources available," said Dr. Diane Thompson, director of the cancer center program at The Queen's Medical Center.

SPREAD THE WORD

One of the first steps smokers should take is telling others about their plans to quit.

"The biggest part is getting support," Thompson said. "Unfortunately, people don't talk about trying to quit with their family and friends. And we've found that their chances would be much better."

So here's some good advice: Get family and friends to support your efforts to quit. Ask them not to smoke around you or offer you cigarettes. Get them to keep you on track.

Better yet, get them to quit with you.

"It's harder to quit if a lot of people in your home or social network are still smoking," McAfee said. "If you quickly mobilize your social support, you're more likely to be successful."

Oftentimes, it takes a life-changing event to motivate smokers to quit for good.

Alec Burnett, 42, of Hawai'i Kai, got a scare in June 2004 when his doctor diagnosed him with melanoma.

"The cancer was it," said Burnett, the regional director for Hilton Supply Management and father of two, who was smoking nearly two packs a day. "That was pretty much the final say."

That October, when his wife was pregnant with their second daughter, Burnett got a nicotine patch and committed to quitting for good.

"Getting grief from friends, the smell, the expense of it, having kids — it was all just adding up," he said. "Then I was diagnosed with melanoma. Cancer. That was all I needed to hear."

Rosalyn Payen, a 30-year-old legal advocate from Mo'ili'ili, has no plans to quit, not even after the smoking ban goes into effect next month.

She doubts the ban will affect her — she smokes less than a pack a day — but she respects the protection it affords nonsmokers.

"I feel bad smoking around nonsmokers," she said, taking a smoke break with a friend downtown on Wednesday. "I make an effort not to impose my choice on other people."

But she doesn't think smoking will always be part of her life. She plans to quit once she has kids.

"For me, right now," Payen said, "I want to live my life the way I want to."