If OTC sales are uniformly allowed, the counseling will certainly be lost. The record of drug companies does not necessarily support the notion that they can be trusted to act in the best interest of public health. At PSC, we learned the hard way that these companies will act in their own best interest, and not necessarily that of health. A major pharmaceutical company withdrew a major grant from us when we refused to end a campaign to eliminate the practice of tobacco sales in pharmacies. If we had backed down, we would have retained a large amount of money, but public health would have suffered.
Drug companies are in business to make money.
If they profit by the sale of nicotine products, they will encourage their sale. Teenage nicotine addiction will be in their best interest. Already, drug companies employ many of the same advertising and public relations firms as tobacco companies. There will be nothing to stop these companies from marketing nicotine delivery systems to children. In the UK, teenagers have been attracted to nicotine inhalers in designer colours.