The success rate is higher for smokers who use nicotine patches or gum, according to recent studies. And under proposals now before Congress, funding for tobacco cessation assistance could skyrocket in years to come. Eissenberg's yearlong study is limited to adult subjects. Therefore, they can apply the same methods that have been used to treat other forms of drug addictions. Eissenberg's work combines medical treatments with observations of the behaviors and feelings smokers experience in various stages of withdrawal.
Someone picks up a needle and injects a drug, or they pick up a cigarette.
The goal is to change that behavior, Eissenberg said. Before taking his first puff of the day at MCV, Jerry exhaled into a tube that measures carbon monoxide levels in his breath. Since Jerry already had indulged in a Camel Light at home, Eissenberg needed to test the contents of his breath. Carbon monoxide, a byproduct of tobacco smoke, is one indicator of how much someone has been smoking. A nurse periodically took blood samples from Jerry that later would be analyzed for nicotine and other medications used in the study.