We’ve all heard of (and perhaps indulged in) social smoking. Now a study in the New England Journal of Medicine has introduced a new concept: social quitting.

It’s an idea worth embracing, given that smoking is still the leading cause of preventable death.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and the University of California, San Diego analyzed 12,067 people participating in the Framingham Heart Study (FHS). They determined that successful quitters kicked the habit in tandem with clusters of people within their social groups: from spouses to siblings, friends or co-workers.

Quitting with the people you’re closest to seems to be the most effective. When a husband or wife quit, it reduced the chance of their spouse smoking by 67 percent. A friend quitting decreased the likelihood of smoking by 36 percent among their friends, and co-workers who butt out decreased the chance of smoking among colleagues by 34 percent.

Need another reason to toss that pack? As we reported in a recent blog, quitting significantly reduces the risk of death from coronary heart disease and smoking-related cancers within a mere five years.

So choose your quit-smoking buddy today, get some quitting tips and butt out today!