I'm still waiting to meet a former smoker who quit permanently as the result of a government paid for program in their health plan, a work sponsored program, a drug patch or pill, hypnosis, talk therapy, etc. And I don't mean the 3-6 month quitter that the research reports in a clinical study so they get another grant from the NIH. I'm sure they are out there, or why would we be spending so much money on them? [sarcasm].
Just Google "Smoking Cessation programs" (about 4.5 million hits). Mayo Clinic claims it's had 45,000 participants in its program to stop using tobacco (smoking and chewing), with 110 randomized clinical trials involving more than 25,000 research subjects. Where are the success stories?
When I see reports on what percentage of income the poor spend on cigarettes, there is usually a follow up appeal on why we should be spending more money on helping them quit. Put where is the research that pills, patches, hypnosis and counseling actually pay?
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I've long said these programs help no one.
I quit "cold-turkey" 12 years ago, after smoking for 20 years, and have never looked back. I'd tried the gum/patch/counseling before then and I stayed smoke-free maybe a month each time. My husband still struggles with smoking.
There's nothing that works better than old-fashioned discipline. Would that we applied that to government spending ;)
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