A recent report says that smokers should never use nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), which includes products like nicotine patches, gums, inhalants, lozenges and pills, or else they will never quit smoking.

When first seeing that headline, I thought that maybe the article would encourage more people to quit cold turkey (no quit smoking aids or medications whatsoever), which is one of many methods that people can use to quit. But further reading showed that not only does the article advocate against the use of NRT for long term quitting, it discourages against ALL methods of quitting! The article boldly concludes that:

“All ‘QUIT’ smoking methods, including cold turkey, are equally doomed to fail, long term, because they are fundamentally regressive and fight normal human behavior. And, their quite limited numbers of successes are more likely placebo-like or coincidental than actual methodology successes.”

So…no one can ever successfully quit smoking? Once you pick up a cigarette you’re doomed? Just keep smoking for the rest of your life?!

The article gives a site to reference for more information. A lot of Quit Coaches who saw the site raised their eyebrows and were shocked to see bold statements encouraging people to “never quit smoking.” I thought about putting the site here, but our focus isn’t to question any one’s methods or techniques or sites about quitting. Rather, I would like to share what we here are Free & Clear know to be successful ways of quitting.

First of all YES, you CAN quit smoking if you want to. And YES, using NRT is safe, effective and has helped create new quitters every single day. But we recommend using products that are FDA regulated. Products like nicotine patches, nicotine gum, nicotine lozenges and nicotine inhalers are monitored by the FDA, so we know they are safe and are aware of any red flags to look out for if someone is using them.

The article and the site mention nicotine pills, which I have never heard of. There are non-nicotine prescription pills and other over the counter pills to help quit smoking, but neither of those contain nicotine. The prescription pills, like the patches and gum, are also FDA regulated.

The article in question states that NRT should only be used for short term for situations like traveling. While it can be used for such situations, what the article fails to mention is HOW these study participants quit. Yes they used NRT, but did they have any kind of plan? Support? Because NRT alone won’t help someone quit, just like cigarettes alone don’t make someone smoke. There are so many other factors involved.  Ask smokers when they smoke, and like clockwork they will say, “After meals, on breaks, with coffee, in the car” and so forth. But will NRT alone give them something to do at those times they are used to smoking? No, it will not.

It takes careful planning and preparation to successfully quit. It takes even more planning to stay quit for life. It takes support to remind people that slipping and relapsing doesn’t mean throwing in the towel. And it’s information and knowledge that lets people know that quitting is not all about the medication. And if you don’t believe me, just ask our participants and clients. They’ll tell you all about it.