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Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking is one of the best-selling quit-smoking books ever written. It promises that quitting can be easy, without willpower or nicotine replacement. Here’s what the method involves, what research has found, and who it might suit.
What is the Easy Way method?
Allen Carr was a heavy smoker for more than 30 years who quit in 1983 and then built his method into books and clinics. The approach focuses on the mental side of addiction. Instead of fighting cravings with willpower, it aims to change how you think about smoking: unpicking the belief that cigarettes help you relax, focus, or enjoy life, so that quitting feels like a relief rather than a sacrifice.
Key features:
- Drug-free. The method doesn’t use nicotine replacement or medicines.
- Keep smoking while you read. You keep smoking until you finish the book or seminar, then stop.
- No scare tactics. It avoids lecturing about health risks.
- Three formats. A book (and audiobook), an online video program, and live group seminars, typically around five hours.
[AFFILIATE BOX: Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking (Bookshop.org) · Amazon option after approval]
Does it work? What the research says
The best-known study is a randomized trial in Ireland, published in Tobacco Control in 2018. It compared a five-hour Allen Carr seminar with Quit.ie, Ireland’s national quit service (phone, text, and email support, with medication if participants chose it). It included 300 adult smokers.
| Time after quitting | Allen Carr seminar | Quit.ie |
|---|---|---|
| 1 month | 37.7% quit | 20.1% quit |
| 3 months | 26.5% quit | 14.8% quit |
| 12 months | 21.9% quit | 11.4% quit |
Quitting was confirmed with a breath test, and anyone who dropped out was counted as still smoking. On that basis, the seminar group did better.
The caveats matter, though:
- Many people dropped out of the study.
- When researchers looked only at people who stayed in, the difference was not statistically significant.
- It was a single-site trial of mostly healthy, middle-aged smokers.
- It tested the live seminar, not the book.
So the evidence is encouraging but limited, and there’s less research on the book alone.
By comparison, nicotine replacement therapy and prescription quit medicines have decades of research behind them and are FDA-approved. See our quit aids guide.
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Who it may suit
Worth trying if…
- You’d prefer not to use medicines or NRT
- Willpower-based attempts haven’t worked for you
- You respond well to reading and reframing
Maybe not first if…
- You’re a heavy smoker with strong physical withdrawal
- You want the option with the strongest evidence
- You find long books hard to stick with (try the audiobook)
There are also Easy Way versions for vaping and other habits. Whatever method you choose, free support like 1-800-QUIT-NOW can help you through the first few weeks. If you’re thinking of combining the method with NRT or medicine, talk to your doctor.
Pair your method with a plan
Our free printable 30-day plan helps you prepare for triggers and track your first month, whichever method you use.
Sources: Keogan et al., Tobacco Control (2018): Allen Carr’s Easyway vs Quit.ie RCT · Allen Carr (Wikipedia) · CDC: Quit Smoking Medicines. NicotineFix is not affiliated with Allen Carr’s Easyway. General information, not medical advice.