New Zealand - study quit-smoking products that are acceptabe and effective..

Just 10 percent of people who use nicotine replacement therapy stop smoking long-term. therapy (NRT) stop smoking long-term.

So researchers are trying to find quit-smoking products that are acceptable and effective to add to the existing range of state-funded nicotine replacement therapy and the drug Zyban - to boost a smoker's chance of quitting the habit permanently.

The study compared "snus" oral tobacco sachets and Zonnic oral nicotine (peppermint or fruit flavoured sachets), with the currently available nicotine gum. 63 smokers used each product for a fortnight (14 days). (Reynolds American Inc. acquire Niconovum that markets nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products under the Zonnic brand name.)

PAPER: Randomized crossover trial of the acceptability of snus, nicotine gum, and Zonnic therapy for smoking reduction in heavy smokers, Brent Caldwell (brent.caldwell@otago.ac.nz), Carl Burgess and Julian Crane, University of Otago, Department of Medicine, Wellington, New Zealand, * Nicotine & Tobacco Research 12(2):179-183, 2010, ABSTRACT..

Subjects preferred snus and Zonnic, which both had significantly fewer gastrointestinal side-effects than gum and resulted in greater reductions in smoking," Dr Caldwell said. "[Zonnic and snus] look like attractive and effective options to help smokers reduce smoking or quit as they're easy to take, people like the impact and they suppress withdrawal symptoms."

One of the study's participants, a 70-year-old man who subsequently stopped smoking without any quit-smoking products, said he didn't particularly like any of the trial therapies, although he disliked snus the least. We wonder why the researchers did not encourage the other subjects to just quit "cold turkey." (The Global Research Neglect of Unassisted Smoking Cessation: Causes and Consequences, Simon Chapman and Ross MacKenzie, PLOS Medicine 2/9/2010)

The study's publication coincides with the parliamentary inquiry into the tobacco industry and the effect of smoking on Maori.

The researchers are now recruiting smokers for a trial to test the effectiveness of a nicotine mouth spray. Dr Caldwell said smokers using patches doubled their chance of quitting if they also used a Nasal nicotine spray.

Reference: Smokers back new tobacco pouch to help quit the habit by Martin Johnston, nzherald.co.nz.

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By law, oral snuff cannot (but nasal snuff is allowed) be sold in New Zealand and can be imported only for personal use..