WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Smoking should be treated like any other addiction, from cocaine to alcohol: with a combination of drugs, behavioral therapy and social pressure. Smokers may want to quit cold turkey on their own, but that is not always the best way, Paul Cinciripini of the University of Texas and a team of colleagues wrote in a special article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Less than 15 percent of Americans who quit smoking for a day remain abstinent one year later -- they found. Nicotine patches doubled quit rates, while nicotine gum was 40 percent to 60 percent better than using nothing. "Finally, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) recently approved the antidepressant buproprion (Glaxo Wellcome Plc.'s Zyban)," they wrote. They said drugs might also be used to stop the cancers that result from smoking. That smoking is an addiction was clear, they said. "Tobacco use is not simply a habit, but an addiction. Less than 15 percent of Americans who quit smoking for a day remain abstinent one year later," they wrote. Among those trying even a single cigarette, 33 to 50 percent will become nicotine dependent. Among regular tobacco users, the incidence of dependence is even more substantial, ranging from 70 percent to 90 percent. They also repeated figures showing how deadly tobacco can be. Tobacco is responsible for the yearly deaths of more Americans than alcohol, cocaine, heroin, homicide, suicide, car accidents, fires and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) combined. Yet Americans continue to use tobacco. "Approximately one-quarter of the U.S. adult population (about 48 million people) currently smoke. Approximately one-fifth of U.S. high school seniors smoke daily," they reported. Cinciripini's team said society also needed to act to help smokers quit.