I quit - believe it or not - the easy way: with Quest Cigarettes. Haven't heard of them? Of course not, no one else has, either, and now they're gone for lack of demand. I blame several groups of people with varying degrees of vehemence:
- People who think that smoking cigarettes while you're quitting is cheating! Seriously. A friend of mine wanted to quit right away, for all the right reasons, so she rushed through the steps, against my advice. And now (do I need to say it?)...she's still smoking. I spent two weeks at Level 1, Low Nicotine, two weeks at Level 2, Ultra-Low Nicotine, and two weeks at Level 3, Nicotine Free. I noticed each decrease for the first day--I felt like I wanted to pull harder. But I just got used it. Then, eventually, I smoked the last pack of Level 3, and I was done. None of those panicky cravings, no rationalizations for buying one more pack rattling around in my head all day; it was practically a non-event.
- Ligget Vector Brands, the manufacturer of Quest Cigarettes, for an extremely poor naming choice. Do an internet search for "quit smoking with quest cigarettes" and you get one million blog posts named "My quest to quit smoking." There is literally no way to get any information about using Quest to quit. Why isn't there anything on the subject on the Ligget Vector website? That brings me to the group of people for whom I reserve my greatest ire...
- Big Pharma. Yes, their lobbyists prevented Ligget from advertising Quest as a stop smoking aid. They wouldn't want anyone getting the impression that anything other than more drugs could be the solution to anything. Need to wean yourself off drugs? Don't try less drugs, try more drugs!
Happy Anniversary! Two years is a big deal. I liked this entry very much. Makes me want to smoke. Just kidding. Sort of. I quit cold turkey, but the Quest Cigarettes sounds like a gentler, kinder way. And the quip about big pharmaceuticals is so true. They just want us on drugs forever. Congrats again!
ReplyDeleteThank you! And congrats to you! You're at four years now, then, right?
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Jen! I am so proud of you!
ReplyDeletedo you know where to get some quest cigarettes? my mom used them to stop smoking and then she started again. She asked me to find her some but i cant. Please respond to sloeboat@gmail.com.
ReplyDeletethank you so much and congratulations!!
Mason
Hello Mason--glad you found this post (I'll also write to your email address). As far as I know, there are no more Quest cigarettes to be had--they've been discontinued. But please email Mary Bell at mbbell at liggettgroup dot com to let her know that their product is missed and they should bring it back!
ReplyDeleteby the way, Phillip Morris sued Ligget, the maker of Quest claiming their crops were "cross pollinating" with there's potentially, as yet another way to get the brand to cease production. Really sad, I agree... I had been smoking for 20 years, tried wellbutrin, the patch, gum... quest was so easy, and smoking while you're going through withdrawls allows you to separate the habit from the addiction. I quit on 1/1/2004, almost cliche... but with Quest it was that easy.
ReplyDeleteHi lorenrose, thanks for writing. I hadn't heard about the Phillip Morris suit...bastards. (And, of course, when it's Monsanto doing the cross pollinating, no one can touch them...) I'm so glad you kept your New Years' resolution--congrats on almost 7 years! I wish Quest were around to help all the people trying to do the same on New Years Day 2011.
ReplyDeleteHi Jen!!! Congratulations on your path to recovery!! Quest cigarettes was a MAJOR SUCCESS!!!The company that developed the cigarettes have parted ways with Ligget and went PUBLIC today!!!They fought "BIG TOBACCO, AND WON!!" the symbol is XXii. They have the attention of the FDA and top doctors that own the largest "quit smoking clinics in the country" When they get fda approval, doctors across the US will be will prescribing this product to smokers to quit!!! You can email me direct at wnyadvantage@gmail.com...or call me direct 716-425-0957. Who knows, they may be able to use YOUR STORY as a testimonial. I believe if you help enough others get what they want, you get what you want!! and your story can help other around the world save their lives!!!
ReplyDeleteHi folks!!! , 3 years later and everything I previously reported has come true!! XXII is a very profitable company and has application to be traded on the Nasdaq or NYSE!!! There is a BIG BIG buzz going on, they partnered with the 2nd largest tobacco company in the world, BTI and have millions of "Test" cigarettes shipped to the Gov't and FDA. Please note my new phone number 716-425-5823 and email joe@wnyadvantage.com. Check out article at seekingalpha.com or yahoofinace. Enjoy!
DeleteWow! I will definitely email you--I might be almost as excited as you are, Joseph! Congratulations to 22nd Century Group and godspeed to your FDA approval! I'm still nervous for you about Big Pharma, and if there's any way my story could help, I'd be thrilled.
ReplyDeleteI'm soo excited about Joseph's post!! I, too, quit smoking using Quest in 2009 and it only took me about a WEEK! I smoked 2 packs of each stage...that was all it took! No withdrawl, no moodiness. I unfortuanetly started again about a year later and have regretted it since. I have sought out Quest again, and was devistated that it had been taken off the market. It was the only product that has worked for me. Here's to hoping FDA approval is right around the corner!
ReplyDeleteIt is very unfortunate that Quest is not currently available. It's easy to find alternative cigarettes with no nicotine but none of them are tobacco based so it's hard to commit to a substitution. Though I can't find any tobacco cigarettes with no nicotine or even the .05mg that Quest offered, there are tobacco cigarettes with various low levels. Merit Ultima, Now, and Carlton all have "flavors" available with as low as .1mg of nicotine (as of 2008 - the FTC has done away with testing for tar and nic levels since then). I will be using these to ween myself. Hope this information is helpful to others!
ReplyDeleteI too used Quest to quit smoking back in 2003 and have been smoke free since that time. Using Quest made it so easy and I had tried everything else. I wanted to buy some for my daughters who both smoke and was sad to hear that they had been discontinued as well. I found out about them by accident when I met someone else who was using them. I hope someone else brings them back to the public.
ReplyDeleteHi everyone.... I also used Quest years ago, stupid me, I started smoking again....I found a site Smokes-Spirits.com that has them, At this time it looks like they only have them in Menthol, they appear to be out of stock on the non-menthol....I'm, going to give them a try and see!
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I both stopped smoking on 1/15/04 thanks to Quest cigarettes. It was so easy and we never went through any withdrawl. Being able to separate the physical and psychological addictions was the key. I was hoping to buy some for my sister in law to help her to stop and I am sickened to find that this product is no longer available. We'll never go back to smoking thanks to Quest.
ReplyDeleteWow, congratulations Dr. and Mrs. T! 8 years. I'm at four this month. I agree completely about the separation of physical and psychological addictions like you say.
ReplyDeleteQuest ciggerates are GMO. If you do not already know the hazards of GMO food i suggest you watch the movie "scientists under attack". Most of us eat GMO foods all the time without knowing it, the health consequences are showing all throughout society and it will continue to get worse. I am sure your giving yourself cancer 10x faster by smoking this genetically engineered tobacco. QUEST DO NOT COME BACK. Quit cold turkey.
ReplyDeleteI did not do QUEST at the 2 weeks at each level. I did each at a few weeks. When I got to the No nicotine, I HATED THEM.. and could not do it! SO-I bought the previous level and mixed them half and half-THAT I could take. Did that for a few weeks, then bought 1 pack of the Ultra Low and 2 nicotine free, and Mixed them again-3 packs with 1/3 of them having some nicotine.. did this for a few weeks, then 1 pack of ultra low and 3 no nicotine-again, a few weeks then FINALLY-I was able to smoke only the No Nicotine and w/o any problems. I was smoking around a pack a day(or less). I had been a 2 pack a day smoker. I then worked, and was able to, lessen the amount, to half a pack a day, then a pack a week, half a week, and so on (this was my 'physical addiction' -Physical-as in the cigarettes I did with certain 'TASKS' like when I got up-I would go out on my deck and have a cigarette, OR when I drove, OR after I ate any meal.. Not MY CHEMICAL ADDICTION.
ReplyDeleteafter I stopped, I carried a pack of Ultralow with me, just in case, for a year. UNOPENED. I did not want to weaken and buy a high nicotine pack of cigarettes. I never opened it and in 8 -EIGHT! years, I have never smoked a cigarette since.
People NEVER questioned me about smoking QUEST-If someone asked me about the pack, I just said it was low nicotine cigarettes, SOMETIMES, I said I was trying again to quit. I never made a big deal about it. Throughout the years, I have had the PATCH, taken WELLBUTRIN, had my EAR STAPLED (Yes, you read that right=it is a form of accupuncture), been hypnotised(sp?) TWICE!, was in a LIFE THREATENING ACCIDENT, and while I stopped with some of them -like with the accident-I was in ICU for 2 weeks, in the hospital another 2 wks, making it IMPOSSIBLE TO SMOKE (not that I wanted to!)I eventually went back, QUEST IS THE ONLY PRODUCT THAT LET ME TAKE MY TIME.. . and concur not only my chemical addiction, but my physical addiction to this disgusting habit that I took up in NURSING SCHOOL!
I am truly sorry that QUEST was discontinued.. AND hope and wish someone, someplace would produce it again. If this product can help EVEN A FEW QUIT-it is worth it.
how ever any one quits, what ever you use, it is worth it. I see people who are my age, who started the same time as me, having trouble BREATHING... going to the hospital for breathing problems, one has COPD... please PLEASE TRY TO QUIT! FOR YOU SAKES!
e-cigarettes people! they have none of the harmful carcinogens, and you can reduce your nicotine level to 0 also just like quest. Nicotine is probably as harmful as caffeine ... that's not the stuff that kills ya, it's everything else in a cig.
ReplyDeleteI quit using quest. It made it easy.
ReplyDeleteI quit smoking with Quest April 2004 and have not smoked a cigarette since. I smoked for 45 years and have COPD now but I believe if I hadn't quit with Quest I wouldn't be here now to see my grandchildren. I tried to quit many many times in the 45 years and tried a lot of different methods and nothing worked until I found Quest cigarettes. I know Quest could help a lot of people if they would bring it back
ReplyDeleteI quit smoking using Quest cigarettes. I used each stage for about a month, and each stage I would cut the amount I smoked per day, until I got to the last stage, the .05 nicotine, I didn't like them much, and didn't see the need to smoke them at all. I stayed on the second stage til I could handle smoking only one or two a day, then just quit. Been smoke free since 12-31-04. That's 13 years, and I smoked for 23 years. I have often recommended the product, but people just have never heard of it. Thank you Quest!
ReplyDeleteI was a 2pk/day smoker. Had tried all other means to quit. I never made it passed a few days. I was so physically addicted. I lived in OH at the time and OH is a huge test market for new products. Things cigarettes were available for a few years in OH. I quit using them back around 2000. It took me several months but I did it with stepping down w the different levels. I kept a pack of the "no" nicotine for about a year. If I went out drinking w smokers (this was a time when smokers could still smoke about anywhere) if I cheated I didn't wake up the next day w a craving for nicotine! After about a year I was completely done. That's what it took for me. If it hadn't been for quest I don't doubt I'd still be a smoker. Such a shame they were taken off the market.
ReplyDeleteQuest cigarettes helped me quit! I quit 10 years ago!
ReplyDeleteI quit eith Quest too. Sadly I went back. And now you can't get them. Very sad
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ReplyDeleteI started on COPD Herbal treatment from Ultimate Life Clinic, the treatment worked incredibly for my lungs condition. I used the herbal treatment for almost 4 months, it reversed my COPD. My severe shortness of breath, dry cough, chest tightness gradually disappeared. Reach Ultimate Life Clinic via their website www.ultimatelifeclinic.com. I can breath much better and It feels comfortable!