National studies place the overall effectiveness at 60 percent. Smokers chew gum laced with nicotine to replace the substance found in cigarettes. The gum is often offered as part of behavioral modification programs. From 10 to 12 pieces of the prescription gum are recommended per day, with a maximum of 30. Each piece is chewed for 30 minutes.
Program lasts from three to six months.
There have been complaints about the taste and texture of the gum, which some say is like cardboard. The effectiveness rate is 40 percent to 50 percent. The oldest method of breaking the smoking habit involves giving up cigarettes altogether and all at once. Can take a week for some people, months for others. The time it takes to break the habit depends on how often the smoker 'sneaks' a cigarette.