Nearly three in four Colorado smokers want to kick the habit, a new survey of 500 adults has found.

Despite consistently ranking among the healthiest states in the nation, going cold turkey for the roughly 12% of Coloradans who smoke continues to be a challenge, according to a news release.

About 5,100 Coloradans die each year from smoking, according to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.

That’s more than the number of Coloradans combined who died in motor vehicle crashes (747), by suicide (1,370) and homicide (397) in 2021, state vital statistics show.

Motivations for quitting includes:

• Saving money (74%)

• Health (71%)

• Family and friends wanting them to stop (42%).

The most common method is going cold turkey followed by a gradual cutting back.

Nearly nine in 10 Colorado smokers see cutting back as critical to quitting.

The survey was conducted online by Wakefield Research between Jan. 4 and 16, 2023 among 500 Colorado smokers for 22nd Century Group, Inc. The plant biotech company sells, among other things, genetic engineered cigarettes that reduces the harm caused by smoking.

“Our study found that the vast majority of survey participants said even just cutting back is considered a win and that’s exactly what our VLN® cigarettes are clinically proven to do,” John Miller, president of 22nd Century Group’s Tobacco Business, said in the news release.

Obstacles to quitting include, among others, the inability to handle stress without smoking and constant cravings.

Click here, to read the full report.

Editor’s note: Healthy Bites is a recurring update on health care related topics by health reporter Nicole C. Brambila.