Smoking cessation in office practice.

There can be no question that smoking is a modern version of plague; that, as Camus points out, the public does not comprehend its true nature. As in the metaphorical community in Camus' narrative, the struggle of individuals against the pestilence (including official obstruction) is imperative. Physicians have multiple opportunities to join the war against tobacco. This article has shown how one may help individual patients in smoking cessation or interruption of its initiation and has suggested other activities by which physicians can become health promotion specialists. By assisting in the process by which smoking loses its appeal, educating community leaders and medical organizations, and becoming exemplars of prohealth activity, we can make a difference in the health of our communities and our patients.