People think that to give up smoking, all they have to do would be to replace the nicotine provided by the cigarette. There are numerous of products available to buy, many over-the-counter, that give an ample way to obtain replacement nicotine. However, they aren’t very effective. The reason why people continue to smoke is due to the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, not just a need for nicotine.

In this article, we will look at some research on the potency of nicotine patches and gum.

The Nicotine Model of Smoking

Back the 1990’s, nicotine got called a highly addictive substance. It was blamed for the reason people find it hard to quit smoking. Yet, using tobacco does not fit this is of a chemical addiction.

In the nicotine model, craving nicotine is what keeps a person smoking. It followed that if nicotine could be provided from a source other than cigarettes, the smoker wouldn’t normally crave cigarettes. Thus, the individual would stop smoking cigarettes by replacing the foundation of nicotine with a nicotine patch or nicotine gum. Then, the new source of nicotine could be gradually reduced over time until the smoker’s “addiction” to nicotine was removed.

This would be a nice, simple solution if nicotine was the real driving force to smoke cigars. However, when there is some other reason people smoke, including the Psychological Smoking Mechanism, supplying nicotine will never be an effective substitute. Let’s look at some research on the potency of nicotine patches and gum.

The Research

Two products that follow the chemical addiction style of using tobacco are nicotine patches and nicotine gum. They’re superb products and do precisely what they say; they provide a very ample way to obtain nicotine. Since the smoker is getting generous levels of nicotine, that they are supposedly craving, the patches should be incredibly effective and take away the desire for a cigarette. But how effective are they?

Some research shows, (Davidson, M., Epstein, M., Burt, R., Schaefer, C., Whitworth, G. & McDonald, A. (1998)), only 19% of people on nicotine patches had stopped smoking at six weeks and it was reduced to 9.2% at six months. Looking at it another way, at 6 weeks, 81% of the people using nicotine patches were still smoking and at six months, about 91% were still smoking. Yes, 10% of those that had stopped were back at it again.

The results for the gum was about the same. Even though the gum was providing the smoker with a lot of nicotine, at 6 weeks, 84% of the people were still smoking and at 6 months, 92% were smoking.

Nikotiinipussit The research showed that the 8% – 9% of individuals who had quit smoking using the nicotine patches and gum were highly motivated to quit smoking! Put simply, these were removing their Psychological Smoking Mechanism.

A Real Life Example

A radio host was interviewing me about the Psychological Smoking Mechanism and throughout the interview he explained he was an ex-smoker. He said he had used nicotine gum to quit also it had taken him two years until he was finally from cigarettes. TWO YEARS!

Think about that for an instant. The nicotine gum was providing a large supply of nicotine in the same way it is designed to do. Yet, this man was smoking AND chewing the nicotine gum. Basically, the gum, loaded with nicotine had not been substituting for the cigarette since it theoretical should have done.

Since the man wanted to quit, he finally stopped after 2 yrs. But it wasn’t the gum, it was him changing his Psychological Smoking Mechanism without even realizing consciously what he was doing. Similar to the 8% – 9% of the people in the research study mentioned above.

Nicotine is Not the Motivator to Smoke

The volume of nicotine a smoker gets in a single cigarette is quite small. Compare the cigarette to the body mass; it’s tiny therefore is the amount of nicotine it contains.

However, these very effective nicotine dispensing products, nicotine patches and gum are loaded with nicotine. That’s what they are made to do; put adequate nicotine into the smokers system to, theoretically at least, replace the need to smoke a cigarette. However, most smokers have effects to these products because they’re getting more nicotine than they ever did smoking. What does all this extra nicotine do?

Based on the American Lung Association, unwanted effects with the nicotine patch are:

Headache
Dizziness
Upset stomach
Weakness
Blurred vision
Vivid dreams
Mild itching and burning on your skin
Diarrhea
Yes, nicotine has an effect on the smokers body. However, with all the items that smoking does to the smoker, it generally does not produce the consequences mentioned by the American Lung Association. That is another clue that nicotine is not the motivator to smoke.

Conclusion

If you go by the nicotine model to quit smoking, you will be disappointed. The only way to quit smoking is to take away the Psychological Smoking Mechanism through the use of proven, psychological techniques. When the mechanism is gone, so is smoking.

� Copyright 2010, R. Michael Stone

R. Michael Stone, M.S. – Counselor

33 years experience with subconscious communication and subconscious programming techniques.

Creator of The Unlearn Smoking Success System? – The program that gives you the powerful psychological tools essential to disassemble the Psychological Smoking Mechanism. This easy 28 day program helps you become, no ex-smoker, but a Non-smoker. Find out how this program may help you permanently remove cigarettes from your own life.