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The following survey found that just ONE-THIRD of smokers and exsmokers in
the US correctly believe that NRT products (i.e. nicotine gum, lozenges,
inhalers and patches) are less harmful than cigarettes.  

Please join others in urging the US FDA to approve the NY State Health
Commissioner's petition to alter NRT warning labels to inform smokers that
NRT products are far less hazardous alternatives to cigarettes, to allow
NRT to be sold in less expensive daily dose units, and to allow NRT to be
sold in all stores that sell cigarettes.

To submit a comment, go to:
http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=FD
A-2008-P-0116
Then click on the "Add Comments" icon to the right of the first document
titled "State of New York Department of Health - Citizen Petition" with ID
number 
FDA-2008-P-0116-0001 

Bill Godshall

- - - 

Perceived safety and efficacy of nicotine replacement therapies among US
smokers and ex-smokers: relationship with use and compliance
 
Addiction, Volume 103, Number 8, August 2008 , pp. 1371-1378(8)
Shiffman, Saul; Ferguson, Stuart G.; Rohay, Jeffrey1; Gitchell, Joseph G.2
 
Abstract
 
Aim  

Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is effective for smoking cessation, but
most smokers try to quit without using it. We examined the impact of
misperceptions of NRT safety and efficacy on its use. Design and
participants  

A total of 3203 current and former US smokers completed a national mail-out
survey of issues and attitudes related to smoking cessation. Findings  

Two-thirds (66%) of respondents either agreed that `Stop-smoking products
with nicotine are just as harmful as cigarettes' or were unsure whether the
statement was true. These respondents were less likely to have used NRT in
the past [30% versus 49%; odds ratio (OR)?=?0.45, 95% confidence interval
(CI): 0.39-0.53] and less likely to consider using NRT during future quit
attempts (40% versus 53%; OR?=?0.60, 95% CI?=?0.51-0.71). Additionally, of
the respondents who had used nicotine gum in the past 12 months (n?=?407),
those who had concerns about the safety of NRT reported using fewer pieces
of gum per day during treatment (six versus eight pieces/day; P?<?0.05),
and were less likely to report that they used the gum for greater than 4
weeks (28.5% versus 46.8%; OR?=?0.45, 95% CI: 0.27-0.76). A large
proportion of the respondents also stated that they did not believe NRT to
be efficacious. 

Conclusions  

The findings suggest that many smokers are misinformed about the health
risks of NRT and that these misperceptions impede not only the adoption of
NRT but also compliance during treatment. Misperception of NRT safety is
one barrier to effective use of NRT and probably reduces success in
quitting.

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bsc/add/2008/00000103/00000008/art000
19
 
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