Quitting smoking is often framed as a matter of determination, but a collection of first-hand accounts suggests that the reality can be considerably more complex.
More than 235 smokers and former smokers have contributed to THR Global’s #WeAreTheEvidence campaign, describing why they started smoking, what made stopping difficult and the approaches they say helped them move away from combustible cigarettes.
Among the most frequently cited factors are stress, anxiety and depression, identified by 32.8% of participants as part of their smoking journeys.
A study involving 18 208 adults found that 74.6% of current combustible smokers had previously attempted to quit. Of those who had tried, 42.8% had used a cessation aid.
For some smokers, nicotine dependence can be accompanied by established routines, social environments and behavioural associations that make changing the habit more difficult.
The testimonials collected by THR Global illustrate how different those experiences can be.
Two smokers, two very different experiences
Ndaphi, one of the participants featured in the campaign, said he began smoking while still at school after being influenced by peers.
He continued smoking for 16 years before becoming increasingly aware of its financial and personal consequences, including its effect on people close to him.
His account describes eventually moving away from cigarettes through what he regarded as harm-reduction alternatives.
Laksha’s experience followed a different path.
She said nicotine pouches did not work for her because they did not replicate the hand-to-mouth behaviour associated with smoking. Her interview also explored the impact smoking routines had on a friendship, including time spent taking smoke breaks.
Of the first 210 formal testimonials collected by THR Global, 95.7% reported using vaping as part of their journey away from cigarettes.
A Cochrane review cited in the supplied material found high-certainty evidence that nicotine-containing e-cigarettes increased quit rates compared with nicotine-replacement therapy.
A separate 2026 review in Addiction also reported findings that favoured nicotine-containing e-cigarettes across the systematic reviews it assessed.
Mental wellbeing forms part of the picture
The relationship between smoking and mental wellbeing also features prominently in the discussion.
Research published in the British Medical Journal found that smoking cessation was associated with improvements in anxiety, depression, stress, psychological quality of life and positive affect.
That evidence adds another dimension to the experiences described through #WeAreTheEvidence, particularly among participants who identified psychological stress as part of their smoking journey.
The campaign’s central proposition is therefore less about prescribing one route away from cigarettes and more about documenting the circumstances people say have shaped their attempts to quit.
The question of whose experiences inform tobacco policy has become increasingly relevant as governments, researchers and public-health organisations continue to assess smoking cessation and harm-reduction strategies.
The campaign seeks to place smokers and former smokers alongside clinical research, rather than treating personal testimony as a substitute for scientific evidence.
International debate around electronic cigarettes has also continued to develop.
In a 2024 commentary published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Harvard Medical School professor Dr Nancy Rigotti considered whether the evidence surrounding electronic cigarettes as smoking-cessation tools had reached a potential ‘tipping point’ within medical and public-health circles.
With more than 235 accounts now documented, #WeAreTheEvidence adds another layer to the broader smoking-cessation debate: not a replacement for clinical evidence, but a record of how smokers and former smokers describe the realities behind the statistics.
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