HEALTH: SMOKING CESSATION
Up in Smoke Which smoking-cessation products really help smokers quit? By Taffel Sturgeon
Forty-four-year-old Joan Leigh has been smoking cigarettes most of her adult life and has been trying to quit recently. For years, she saw smoking as “cool,” emblematic of her engraved tin box where she stored her smokes. But middle age has crept up on her, and between coughing fits and her teenager’s constant entreaties, the idea of quitting is starting to gain sway. Cigarettes are used by nearly 38 million Americans, and smoking claims nearly half a million American lives each year — 1,300 a day — making tobacco use the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States. Not interested in becoming a statistic, Leigh turned to patches. This discreet transdermal solution delivers the addictive nicotine into her body while it prevents the assault on her lungs. She has also looked at CBD — a study in England gave smokers a CBD vaporizer to use when the urge struck to smoke tobacco cigarettes; those dozen smokers who used CBD smoked 40% fewer cigarettes compared to the placebo group over the course of a week.
Do E-cigs Work?
Smoking claims nearly
half a million
American lives each year —
1,300 a day. Source: CDC
114
Other studies have investigated whether electronic cigarettes can help cigarette smokers quit. These e-cigs contain nicotine only (plus carrier oils, typically propylene glycol and glycerol). Researchers from Harvard and the UK conducted a meta-analysis of 50 studies representing more than 12,000 smokers. They focused on four studies with “moderate-certainty evidence” showing nicotine vapes led to an additional four per 100 smokers to quit, with effects lasting at least six months. Four out of 100 may not sound like a lot, but only 7.5 out of 100 smokers successfully quit every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is important work because healthcare providers and regulators remain uncertain if e-cigs can truly help smokers quit, and if they can do so safely. The FDA took aim at e-cig market leader Juul, which had 50% market share, and then on
August 2022 DRUGSTORENEWS.COM
114-116_DSN_Health_Smoking_0822_NM_HE_MM.indd 114
7/25/22 11:06 PM
