The Cravings Market: Who Benefits from Nicotine Replacement Therapies?

‘Gums, lozenges, patches…there’s an array of brand names, flavors and packaging that makes cutting your nicotine habit that much more of an accessory. Marketed as a quit aid that’s easy to take and is commonly found in any subprime grocery store, nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) have become available to the public market as the easiest way to wean yourself off smoking—an ever more desirable goal for many Americans. But recent studies suggest that these so-called therapies are just another way for tobacco and pharmaceutical industries to increase profits, and at the expense of poor communities that do not have access to alternative therapies.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 7 out of 10 smokers are looking to quit smoking completely. And the abundance of over-the-counter NRTs has provided many with the packaged means to quit. Though while the public market sees e-cigarettes and nicotine patches as the most accessible way to quit smoking, studies show that NRTs are less effective than people are misled to believe; moreover, the tobacco industry has had a strong hand in pioneering these products. ‘
Read more: The Cravings Market: Who Benefits from Nicotine Replacement Therapies?