Smokers who do not want to quit right now, but are prepared to try to reduce their smoking are twice as likely to stop smoking in the long-term if they use nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to help them cut down gradually, according to research published on bmj.com today.

The research is the first of its kind to focus on sustained smoking abstinence using NRT for smokers who have no immediate plans to stop smoking.

Smoking is one of the greatest causes of illness and premature death in the world. Half of UK smokers try to stop every year but only 2-3% of them succeed. One of the reasons for this is that while the majority of smokers want to quit, only a minority feel ready to do so abruptly. These smokers, say the authors, might have more success by following nicotine assisted reduction to stop (NARS) programmes, also known as 'cut down then stop, 'cut down to stop' and 'cut down to quit…