Tobacco Documents Online

U t l;' 2 1993 / ISJ'UNSCRIFT December 1, 1993 7:00-9:00 A?[(ET) ABC~PV Good Morning america C'Rarlie Gibson, co-host: There are a couple dozen over-the-count.r products sold at drugstores designed to help s:ttoXers stop ssoking. well as of today, theyore banned. The Food and Drug hdministration is baru:irq them. The reason is they don't work. They don't hurt, they just don't gst you to stop. So drugstores can sell out present inventories of products like Cigarrest, Smokers Choice and Call It Quits, but no new supplies can be shipped out. (Visual of -above-cited products) With us this morninq is Dr. liichael Fior., director of the Center of Tobacco Research and Intervention at the University of Wisconsin. Good to have you here. Dr. xichael Fiore (Director, Center For Tobacco Research and Intervention): Good morninq. Gibson: 1 should amphasize it's just the over-the- counter products that are going away. Fiora: A real important point, And I think this is good news for consumers who, in the past, have gone into drugstores seriously wanting to quit and have been faced with a barrago of products, over-the-counter products, none of which have been shown to be safe and effective. Gibson: You don't think they*re worth anything than? Fiore: well, I think that it depends on the individual. But with seventeen million Americans tryinq to quit every year, sotivated to quit, what we want to do is give them the best shot possible. And we now know that same products, specifically nicotine patch and nicotine qva, have been shown to be both safe and effective. And lat•s steer p.opl• who want to quit to p=oducts we know that work. Gibson: okay, and we should underline that. The nicotine patches and the nicotine gum, which have been proven to be effective... Fiore: Exaatly. iContdl C

UtC 'L 1993 rCont'd! Gibson: ...are still available, but by prescription. Fiore: Exactly. Gibson: It is just the over-the-counter products that go away. hiore: Correct. Cirison: All right. But that means, if you're motivated to quit, want to do it, now you have to go to a doctor, you have to get a prescription. So why aren't t,b,ese tbings available over the counter, the patches and the 9ua? Fiore: Well, they contain a drug, and the drug is nicotine. And currently they are available by prescription only. (Visual: Nicoretts and Nicoderm products) They're being teatQd, though, to see if in fact they will become over-the-counter products. Until we're aura tDey're both safe and effective over the counter, still one needs to go see their doctor. And I think there's another important reason to see your doctor, because you.'11 get some helpful advice, counselling, to deal with aoaae of the habitual and psychological aspects of smoking. The nicotine patches and gua taKe the edge off the physical vitbdraaal symptosis, but you also need to break some of the habit and psychologically addictive parts. and that's why visiting your doctor will really help. Gibson: Zt is--are there percentages on what percentage of smokers vho try the patch, who try the gum, actually can quit? !'i:ore: well, we've shown, in fact, that if you look at people a year after they've tried to quit, between twenty and forty percent who use the nicotine patch will be successful. knd that's really a pretty impressive statistic for a powerful addiction that Surgeon General Xoop says is as addictive as heroin or cocaine. Gibson: You ssntioned twenty to forty percent. Are the people awre apt to quit long tQrm if they take tha kind of psychological counselling that you mentioned in addit4on to the patch? 8iorst Yeah. I think the real important point is that smokers ars first individuals. And there's really no magic bullet that is perfect for every smoker. But if a person vants to maximise their likelihood of successful quitting, see your doctor, get some simple ;conrds O N W W N C03 O N ~

u t u z w9a' ;conrdll counsallinq and advice, and probably a product lika the nicotina patch vill giv: you your best likelihood of snccecsfully quitting. Cibson: If the over-the-counter things don"t hurt, why ban tham? Fiorec Wsll, when wo saa the impact of cigarettes on our soci.ty--more than four hundred thousand Americans who dia, ons out of every five deaths directly caused by ciqaratta smokinq--when we know that eight out of tan smokers want desperately to quit, we want to give tbea the baat shot poscible that they will succeed. And if they're going to go and they're motivated to quit, let"s direct them at products that ws knov that work, and that's the nicotina patch and the nicotine qua. cibson: So these were defective or falss hope? $stter to got rid of them? Fiora: Wsll, I think that--let's give tham the best- shot likelihood, and as people move toward the holiday ssason when so many people think about quitting, itfs a wonderful opportunity to say, %I'm going to quit and quit for good.' Sas you doctor and you'll be able to do it this year. Gibson: The beat present probably a smoker can give his relatives is to quit. Fiora: To give both themselves and their loved ones. Gibson: Thanks very much. Piore: Thank you. i 0 0