Simon Chapman has recently come up with an analysis that advocates that the Nicabate and Nicorette franchises of GlaxoSmithKline and Pharmacia & Upjohn are highly visible juggernauts. They are advertised prominently in pharmacy point-of-sale displays and on TV.

"Smoking cessation is becoming increasingly pathologised, a development that risks distortion of public awareness of how most smokers quit - to the obvious benefit of pharmaceutical companies", says Chapman

His analysis further says that NSW's Quitline urges smokers to plan ahead to deal with temptation, keep a record of every cigarette so that you can identify certain situations where you feel tempted.

He advocates that public health messages should focus on the fact that relapses after quitting are widespread and are not failures.

The federal government Quitline website says, "Going cold turkey means stopping suddenly and completely. For most people this is the most successful method".

Head of the Cancer Council NSW, Dr. Andrew Penman, agrees that nicotine replacement has been oversold. "There has been a disproportionate focus on the use of pharmaceuticals as a means to quit", he says.

Penman further said that instead of getting people off cigarettes, the emphasis needs to shift to keeping them off and the most effective strategies towards that goal are taxes, smoke-free environment legislation, and anything else that makes tobacco less ubiquitous, accessible or desirable.