I’ve been a smoker and I can tell you, reducing the nicotine doesn’t work. And there is no such thing as “self discipline” that can help, unless you’re talking

I’ve been a smoker and I can tell you, reducing the nicotine doesn’t work. And there is no such thing as “self discipline” that can help, unless you’re talking about quitting all smoking. A tiny amount of nicotine is enough to maintain or reactivate your physical addiction. This is why the phrase “once a smoker always a smoker”, because for people like me it doesn’t matter that we haven’t smoked in 4 years, a single cigarette will bring back that addiction with a vengeance. A minority of people supposedly have an easier time quitting. Hence the joke: Quitting is easy, I did it dozens of times already. Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances. AFAIK it ranks higher than drugs like cocaine. The best strategy is quitting cold turkey, but the withdrawal symptoms can be severe. For people that failed that, there is some medication available that can interfere with the brain receptors to reduce the cravings.