Tobacco Documents Online

Utl; l 199i TRANSCRIPT Decembor 1, 1993 7i0i0-9:OOi J1K('E'T), J1BC-TV Good Morning America Charlie Gibson, co-host: There are a couple dozen over-the-counter products sold at drugstores designedito help smokers stop smoking. wa11 as of' todey', th&y#re banned. The Food and Druq Adainistration is banning them. Ths reason is tbey don't work. They don't hurt, they j ust dion • t get you to stop. So drogstores can sell out present invemtoriss of products like Cigarrest, Smokers Choice and Call It Quits, but no new supplies can be ahi'pped out. ('Visual of-abovn-cited producta) With us this morning is Dr. Kichael Fiore,, directar of the center of Tobacco Research and Intervention at the cTniversity of Wisconsin. Good to have you here. Dr. Michael Fiors ('Director, Center For Tobacco &esearch and Intervention) : Good morning. Gibson: I should emphasiZae it's just the over-the- counter productc that are goinq away. Fiore: A real importantpc int. And!I think this is good news for consumers who, in the past, have gone into! drugstores seriously wanting to quit and'havt been faced with * barraqwor products, over-the-counter produ+cts, none of which have been shown to be sath and' etFectiva. Gibson: You don't think theyJre wortb arything then? Fiore : we11, I' think that it, depend& on the individual. But with seventeen million Amaricans trying',to quit every year, motivated to quit, what we want to db is give tbem the best shot possible. J1nd we now know that some products, specifically nicotine patch and nicotine qum, hav~, bsen shown to be both sale and~ effective. And 1et,Ia! steer people who want to quit to products we know that work. Gibson: Okay, and we should underline that. The nicotine patches and the nicotine gt=, which have been provenito be etZective,... Fiore: Exactly. (Ctml'd)~ l

U ti: Z 1993, rc4MAf Gibson: ...ara still available, but by prescription. Fiore: Exactly. Cib+aon: It is j'ust the over-the-counter products that qo away. Fiore1 Correct. Cilysont All right. But that mnans, 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 these tbi!rgs avail.able over the counter, the patches and the gm? Fiore: Wsl'l, they contain a druq, and the druq is nicotine. And currently they are available by prescription only. (Visual: Nicorette and Nicoderm products) 2hey+re being tested', though, to saa if in fa,ct they vill become: over-the-counter products. Until ve"re cYOre they'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 aew your doctor, because you, ll get some help'ful advice,, counselling, to deal with some of the habitual and psychological aspects ot smokin:g. The nicotine pa tches and g~ua take the edqe off the physical vithdra~ral symptoaas, but you also need to break some of the habit and, psychologically addictive parts. lnd' that's why visiting your doctor will really help. Gibson: It is,--are there pet'centag+as on what percentage of smokers who try the pat+ch, who try the gua, actually' can quit?' Fiore: Well, we've shown, in fact, that if you look at people a year after t'hey•ve tried to quit, betveen, tventy and forty percent who use the nicotit:e patch will be success.ful. And that's really a pretty impressive statistic for a poverful addiction that Surqeon G4n®ral 1GOop says is as addictive as heroin or cocaine. Gibson: You mentioned twenty to forty pe,rcent. Are the people more apt to quit long term if'they taka ths kind of' psychological counselling that you mentioned in add'ition to the patch? Fiora: Yea4. I think tbs real important point is that smokers are first individuals. And tharels really no magic bullet that is perfect for every saoker. But if ~ a person vants, to maximizir their likelihood a!' successful quitting, s+ae your doctor, get some simple ~ ,Gbnt'd{' ~AO ~ ~ W. ~

Utl; G 1Ai3 :Gon['dj~ cournsellinq and'advica, and probably a, product like the nicotine tch will qiv: you your best 1S;k.lihood o~f succassfu ly quittinq.. Cilison: If the over-the-counter things don't hurt, why betn tbem? Fiore: Well, whan we ssr the impact of cigarettes on our society--mors than four hundred thousand Americans who di'., one out of every f ive deaths directly caused by cigarette smoking--when we know that eiqht out of' tan smokers want desperately to quit, we want to: give t'bem the beat shotposcibla, that they will succesd.11nd ifthQy • re going to, go and th8y 're motivated to, quit, let,s direct them at products that we kaov that work, and that's the nicotine patch, aztid the nicotine qua. Gibson: So theae were d4fective or falsa hope? Better to gat rid of them?' - Fiori..: Well, I' think that--let's give them the best- ahot likalihood', and as' people move toward the holiday, sseason whaniso many people think about quittinq , it's a' wondarful opportunity to say, `I1m goinqi to quit and quit for good.' See you doctor and you'll be able to do it this year. Gibaon: The beat preaent probably a smoker oaza give his relatives is to q~it. Fior.: To qive both themselves and their loved ones. Gibson: Thanks very much. F'iore. Thank you. 0 1 f