Smokers and nonsmokers will usually agree that cigarettes are expensive, stain fingers and make hair smell bad.

More sobering, there are 443,000 tobacco-related deaths in America each year, according to the American Lung Association. This includes almost 50,000 deaths related to secondhand smoke (due to causes such as lung cancer and heart disease) and more than 700 residential fire deaths per year connected to cigarettes.

But kicking the habit can be nearly impossible for some; nicotine is more addictive even than cocaine and heroin, researchers have found.

The good news is, quitting is possible. Prescription medications, over-the-counter nicotine patches and nondrug interventions such as group therapy and hypnosis all have varying rates of success. What’s clear is that the more support you have, the better your chances.

Robin Goldman, 53, from Sun City Center, had tried to quit many times.

Then last September, with her sister in tow, she attended a hospital seminar where she underwent group hypnosis and learned she had the power to quit all along.

Here is her success story.

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