Quit smoking objective: tobacco-free or nicotine-free?

I have just received in my inbox a wonderful self-congratulatory press release from a major smoking cessation service provider. In it they pat themselves on the back for achieving their highest ever success rate in the first quarter of 2008. The problem is that they are defining 'success' as being tobacco-free rather than nicotine-free.

When we dig deeper we find that a significant number of the 'successes' are continuing to use the nicotine patch or gum. Research shows that of the 6-8% of gum users who successfully quit smoking, more than half become addicted to the gum. Further research shows that many people who remain addicted to nicotine ultimately relapse back to smoking.

I also note from their research that they were only able to follow-up with the 51% of their customers who completed the survey. What about the rest?

So, of the 14,428 people surveyed, the 'success rate' is based on the responses from just 7,300, and some of the people counted as successes are still using nicotine. In this kind of research it is usually the protocol to count non-respondents as still smoking. In this case their much-trumpeted 'success rate' of 44.5% (tobacco-free, not nicotine-free remember) at six months falls to 22.7%. As those still addicted to nicotine drift back to smoking, this figure would be expected to drop further...

Compare this to the 12-month, nicotine-free success rate of 53.3% for attending Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking seminar.

To get the facts, not the spin, please visit us at www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com