Quitting requires religion isn't as crazy as you think. A huge number of addiction specialists will tell you that. They will not tell you that because there's any sort of medical reason to tell you that. They will tell you that because a huge number of addiction specialists are in alcoholics anonymous, and those that aren't still interact with people who are on the daily basis.

"Quitting smoking requires religion" is no shit just AA and the 12 steps. The twelve steps are literally a program that is supposed to create a spiritual experience. In the big book, the big revelation of Bill W. that causes him to quit drinking is that he finds religion. That's seriously the purpose of the 12 step programs.