Consumer Information

Consumer Information Links

• It's Quittin' Time: Smokers Need Not Rely on Willpower Alone Article from FDA Consumer magazine, updated to Feb 1998. Reviews quit smoking aids and quitting itself.
  
  
• Quitting Smoking: A Consumer's Guide CDC, FDA info from GSA; covers which products (as of 1994) had been found safe and effective and which had not.
  
• Acupuncture for Smoking Cessation Article in scientific journal. Examines whether acupuncture is effective for quitting smoking. Conclusion is it does no better than placebo.
  
• Quacks, Vitamin Pushers, and smoking Quackwatch evaluation of vitamin regimens for smokers. "Many vitamin pushers suggest that smokers need vitamin C supplements. Although smokers have somewhat lower blood levels of this vitamin, these levels are still far above deficiency levels. In America, cigarette smoking is the leading cause of death preventable by self-discipline. Rather than seeking false comfort by taking vitamin C, smokers who are concerned about their health should stop smoking."
  
• Zyban for Smoking Cessation Briefly reviews the scientific literature on safety and effectiveness.
  
• Smoking Cessation, Does It Work? What to Ask about research. Health and Wellness article gives advice on how to evaluate smoking cessation research.
  
• FTC finds Ruta Lee's Vitamin C and stop-smoking ads were deceptive Television personality Ruta Lee agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that advertising claims she made for three vitamin sprays and a stop-smoking spray were unsubstantiated.
  
• Smokers Advised to Combine Therapies The combined use of nicotine patches and sprays is the best way to quit smoking, researchers find.
  
• Quackwatch on subliminal tapes Quackwatch caution: "Many researchers have found that subliminal tapes provide no benefit to the user."
  
• Prescriptions to Help Smokers Quit Reprint from FDA Consumer magazine, June 1994, written by a geneticist and author of a biology text. Discussd the pros and cons of the patch and gum.
  
• It's Quittin' Time: Smokers Need Not Rely on Willpower Alone FDA info on the nicotine patch, gum, nasal spray, and inhaler, and Zyban.
  
• A harmful Aid to Stopping Smoking Lancet article. A vegetable-based cigarette sold as a quit-smoking product has its own toxic and carcinogenic substances.
  
• FDA: No Over-The-Counter Smoking Deterrent Works This includes pills, tablets, lozenges and chewing gum-type products sold under various names such as Cigarrest, Bantron, Tabmint, Nikoban and others. However, some prescription products have been found safe and effective as smoking cessation aids. Note: at the time this was written, the gum and patch were prescription products.
  
• Is Bupropion an Effective Treatment for Smoking Cessation? Slide presentation evaluates effectivess measurements for Bupropion ("Zyban"), the nicotine patch, the gum; also presents general information on smoking, addiction, and quitting.
  
• Herbal Cigarettes: Not Safer than Tobacco FTC action highlights claims made by makers of "natural" or "herbal" cigarettes.
  
• Bandolier: Stopping Smoking General info, and review of effectiveness of different quit smoking products.
  
• Effectiveness of Hypnosis for Quitting Smoking Researchers at Ohio State University reviewed five dozen studies and conclude that smokers who are hopeful that hypnosis will help them kick their habit need to temper their expectations.