e tapes, and a positive planner for a smoke free life. Unfortunately, they range from $30 to $80 per week and are not supported by HMO’s. They also bring further complications in that prolonged use causes such side effects as increased risk of heart attack to insulin rejection. Despite the presence of nicotine, smokers still experience withdrawal symptoms and are still 45% more likely to cheat in the first week and 85% more likely to cheat by the second week, making the success rate only %10 to stop smoking for more than a single month. Another method of stopping is acupuncture, a Chinese holistic approach of using metal staples in and around the ear that actuate charkas that ease the withdrawal symptoms. There is no scientific evidence that has decided decisively how effective this method is. Hypnosis, or the sub-conscious suggestion of an outside party that uses a dream-like trance to convince his patients to stop, also has very little support or research in the scientific community. It is obvious this method has worked for many people, but is very expensive and cannot be quantified easily by researchers. There is another solution, not widely publicized, in testing right now. A company called Celanese has created a chemical that, when injected in the human body, intercepts nicotine before it gets to the brain. This drug, in effect, would force smokers to go through the withdrawal process once and then never again experience the effects of smoking, thusly eliminating the need for it. I could find no substantial information about the drug or when it would be available, but most reports indicate that it will probably not be much more effective than the methods available now. In conclusion, smoking is an extremely addictive habit that usually forms in the early teen years. We should be targeting our children from the time they enter elementary school to prepare them for this temptation and encourage them to steer clear of this probl...
