It is a common belief that nicotine addiction is the reason it's hard to quit smoking. However, talk to any smoker who has tried to quit using the patch or gum (maybe you're one of them), and most will tell you they still wanted to smoke.

I can't tell you the number of people who have come to see me in my Toronto (Ontario, Canada) stop smoking hypnosis clinic that have told me they ripped the patch off so that they could light up a cigarette. Some of these people were actually getting so much more nicotine from NRT than from their smokes that they actually felt sick!

So why would you still want to smoke when you are getting as much or more nicotine from your patch, gum or inhaler than from your cigarettes? Do you think it could be because nicotine addiction is not the real problem?
The drug companies would love you to believe that nicotine addiction is the real issue, because it helps them sell nicotine replacement "therapy" (NRT), but the stats tell a different story. Depending on which studies you read, the quit rates with NRT are no better than 20% (if you read studies paid for by the NRT industry). In reality, it's more like 10 to 15 percent and that's optimistic. In the UK where the government was heavily subsidizing patches and gums, that rate dropped to around 5%. That's why in North America, the NRT industry has to state that NRT must be combined with "psychological counseling".

So why is NRT so widely promoted? My belief is because companies make millions selling it. Just cruise the Internet and you'll be inundated with ads trying to convince you that their products will stop your cravings. This stuff is big business.

So what about those who do quit with NRT? For many, it's their belief (a naturally occurring form of hypnosis) that Nicotine Replacement Therapy will enable them to quit that does the job. In technical terms it's called the placebo effect. That's why drug companies need to do double blind studies because when people believe they are getting a powerful drug, they often get better, even if the "powerful drug" is just a sugar pill. That's the power of the mind... which we use to help you become a non-smoker for life.

So what is the real issue... that's for another article.  Barry Moore