Is it better to taper down off of lortab or quit cold turkey?

Depends: If you are not addicted but your body is just dependent on it, it may be possible to slowly wean down. For someone addicted this is almost an impossible goal because addicts have lost the ability to control the dose. Talk to your doctor, there maybe meds that can help for either case.

Get help: Cold turkey, depending on the dose you were taking and your own biology, can range from feeling like a very bad case of influenza, to a syndrome that can cause some physical harm from vomiting and diarrhea, and in rare cases a great deal of harm. More importantly, most people I have treated have never succeeded with it for more than a few days or a few weeks. Get help from addiction professional.

Addiction?: The doctor prescribing it usually knows how to discontinue it. If you have an addiction problem there are several paths. Abstinence is "cold turkey" -- supervised taper is "soft landing" -- switching to something easier to taper is "suboxone detox" there are some other ways. I have seen many patients discontinue pain meds successfully. Look up the definitions of addiction and dependence.