By BRIAN DONALDSON, The Herald
Original Publication Date: March 13 2007
Reproduced with the permission of The Herald, Glasgow © Newsquest (Herald & Times) Ltd.

AS THESE things go, “I’m going to cure the world of smoking” is up there with the world’s best catchphrases. These words were uttered by Allen Carr on July 15, 1983, the day when he stubbed out his last cigarette.

Convinced he had discovered a method based mainly on the logical reasons smokers need to quit (rather than on the sea of drugs and patches and gums and hypnotists on the market), he would soon coin it Easyway, which would heal millions of their nicotine dependency.

Carr’s second wife Joyce had heard it all before, the muggy reek on his clothes continued evidence of the 100-a-day routine he’d cultivated throughout his working life. That day, she witnessed him have such a fierce coughing fit that a heavy nosebleed ensued.

Traumatised by the event, Carr’s first instinct was to light up. The bleeding intensified. Appalled, Joyce demanded he visit a hypnotherapist who had helped a family friend.

Dubious, but willing to placate his wife, Carr went along and had his eyes opened, not by the treatment but by one statement from the therapist: “Do you realise smoking is just nicotine addiction and if you quit for long enough, you will eventually be free?”

Many variations on this mantra are repeated in Carr’s books and by the ex-smoker therapists who work in his clinics, helping keep the success rate around the 95% mark they proudly boast.