It won’t solve America’s tobacco epidemic

A heavily advertised smoking-cessation drug that's been on the market since 2006 has no discernible effect on decreasing cigarette use among adults, researchers at the UC San Diego School of Medicine are reporting.

The main effect of varenicline, popularly known under its marketing name of Chantix, has been to displace other smoking-cessation drugs such as nicotine patches and the antidepressant marketed under the name Zyban, according to a study published August 17 in the online edition of Tobacco Control.

"We had hoped the new pharmacotherapy would help more people quit, but this is not what is happening," said lead author Shu-Hong Zhu, PhD, a UCSD professor, speaking to the campus' online NewsCenter. "Instead, varenicline is replacing other options like the patch, without having any significant population-level impact on quitting success."

The study considered more than 39,000 smokers from two U.S. Census surveys in 2003 and 2011, before and after Chantix became widely available. While 28.7 percent of smokers in the 2003 survey reported attempting to quit using pharmaceutical aids and 31.1 percent reported the same in 2011, the successful quit rate rose from only 4.5 percent to 4.7 percent, statistically insignificant, given the increase in the overall number of hopeful quitters.

"We are not saying Chantix does not help smokers quit. It does, but it won’t solve America’s tobacco epidemic unless it inspires more smokers to try to quit," adds Zhu.

Data examined by the study is too old to consider the effectiveness of e-cigarettes, which have experienced a surge in popularity in recent years, but opinions on the devices vary wildly. Anecdotal evidence and clinical studies of users indicates a higher successful quit rate using the devices, but opponents argue the devices are used to glamorize smoking and attract youth that could convert to using traditional tobacco products.