I went cold turkey. I found it impossible to stop while I had a room-mate who smoked, and I never successfully quit until he moved out. I also had to stop drinking alcohol for a while. The cravings themselves went away after about a month. The "feeling a bit on edge" went away after two or three months. However, it took at least a year before I could have any alcohol without having a strong craving.

The ironic thing about it is that I started in college, and I used them along with caffiene as a stimulant to keep me awake when studying late at night. After I quit, I realized just how tired they were making me. I had a lot more energy and needed a lot less sleep (well, until I had kids anyway). For a while I thought it was just the edgy feeling, but it turned out to be more than that.

Good luck. If you have a significant other that smokes, you're going to need more than luck. If not and you have a room-mate that smokes, move in with someone who doesn't (and who won't let you smoke in the apartment/house). If you can't give up alcohol almost completely for 3-6 months, you may want to wait until you can before you try quitting (because a failure will just discourage you).

I already noticed that evil connection between alcohol and cigarettes. You know, three years ago I didn't smoke for about one year (I also started when I went to university - same coffee+cigs story). Interestingly enough I didn't consume any alcohol during that time as well.
Maybe I should leave alcohol for the next months, too. Luckily I don't have a problem with that as I only drink three or four beers on weekends anyway.

I am an ex-smoker.
I smoked for over 5 years, and have been nicotine free for over a year now. Here's how:

1. Start with nicorette, but only to help with the feelings of rage. Stop smoking cold turkey. Just chew the nicorette.

2. One day when you're out of nicorette and you're back and forth about your self about whether to buy more,
just buy a pack of regular gum. Stride did it for me.

But to be honest, it failed 2/3 attempts to finally get off the nicotine gum and cigarettes all together. Don't give up!
It's worth it!

Too bad my reply was killed after reporting that I answered a spam-post. Also, by now I know this is an old thread. So here's my reply:

Here's how I quit:

I wasn't stupid enough to do it to begin with. I like my health.

Yet the probability is pretty high that you are stupid enough to eat bad food and crackers each day, and way too much meat. Maybe you are also stupid enough to not do sports after your day job.

Some militant non-smokers (luckily not the majority) forget that they are themselves not Siddh?rtha Gautama. While they may be non-smokers (which is good), they still might fail in many other aspects, with the difference that those fall out of current social focus.

1. Write down an estimate of the sum total money you have spent on cigarettes since you started smoking.
2. Have heart attack.
3. Never smoke again.

I think the largest deterrent to smoking really is the amount of money it costs if you are a pack a day or more smoker. It's like $40 for a carton that'll last you a little over a week right? A lot more if you buy packs on their own (probably close to twice as much).

If you've been smoking a while your brand new BMW has been spent on killing your taste buds/nose, ruining your lungs (and other organs), and making you smell bad.

edit: I do like the idea of writing down all your reasons for quitting. I think a lot of people let the craving blind them to why they wanted to quit in the first place. If you have it written down though it's hard to ignore. I suppose that goes for any bad habit.

Zyban worked for me, in the summer of 2002. I was 26 at the time. I was a pack-a-day smoker, and the cravings pretty much just went away. I experienced heart palpitations the first time on the Zyban so I stopped it and went back to smoking, but my second time on the Zyban was successful.

A few years later, I briefly took up smoking mini cigars, one pack every 3-4 weeks. A couple months before my daughter was born, I simply stopped buying those, and I haven't smoked anything since. I never considered the mini cigars to be "falling off the wagon" because I never smoked them frequently enough to buy a new pack while I was in withdrawal from the previous pack. I'm probably bullshitting myself here.

Honestly, I miss smoking, I'm sure I always will. I enjoyed stepping outside for a five minute smoke break, even in the dead of winter. It gave me quiet time to chew on whatever problem I was trying to solve at work, and I'd usually return to my desk with a few new insights. Taking breaks like that now, without lighting up a cigarette, just isn't the same.

Quit cold turkey, worse comes to worse, get an electronic cigarette, If when you get the urge to smoke, instead of grabbing a real cig, grab the Ecig (with reduced nicotine) should be enough to keep your addiction at bay

Start doing aerobic exercise (like jogging) 1h a day at minimum.