Recent Trends Toward Public Smoking May Influence Smokers To Quit

Recent Trends Toward Public Smoking May Influence Smokers To Quit

- 'Thank you for Smoking' movie launch may have similar effect on smokers -

Smoking in public may be a thing of the past. Attitudes toward smoking are noticeably changing due to recent smoking legislation including smoking bans, cigarette tax increases and enforcement of marketing restrictions imposed on the tobacco industry, cigarette sales in the United States fell to the lowest level in 55 years. Even Hollywood has something to say with this week's release of tongue-in-cheek, "Thank You for Smoking," a pointed comedy about a public relations specialist for a company called 'Big Tobacco.'

With all the recent incentives likely motivating smokers to make the decision to quit, there has never been a greater need to provide support and education for smokers trying to kick the habit.

Expert Spokesperson:

Jack Henningfield, Ph.D., is professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and an expert in the area of tobacco use and therapies for use in addiction treatment.

He is available to:
-- Provide helpful tips and information about effective options for people
who are interested in quitting smoking.
-- Address the broad range of tools available to help smokers quit - from
medications that reduce symptoms, such as, nicotine replacement
therapies to counseling programs that give them the practical tools to
stay smoke-free.
-- Provide education on the safe, effective role of therapeutic nicotine,
and the need for simultaneous behavior modification to support habit
change.

FACTS ABOUT SMOKING:
-- An estimated 44.5 million adults in the United States smoke
cigarettes(1) and nearly 70 percent of smokers nationwide want to make
a quit attempt(2)
-- Cancer is the second leading cause of death and was among the first
diseases causally linked to smoking(3)
-- "Cold turkey" is the most common method people try to quit. It is also
the least successful. In fact, 97 percent of all cold turkey quit
attempts fail(4)
-- Quitters can safely double their chances of success by using
therapeutic nicotine products to help reduce craving and nicotine
withdrawal symptoms(5)

MORE ABOUT DR. JACK HENNINGFIELD:

Jack Henningfield, Ph.D. served as the National Institute on Drug Abuse liaison to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concerning the regulation of tobacco and nicotine medications. He has given invited testimony to congressional committees and the White House on tobacco, nicotine, and other drug policy issues. Dr. Henningfield has published more than 300 journal articles and contributed to numerous reports of the U.S. Surgeon General, the National Academy of Sciences, and World Health Organization.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK TO DR. JACK HENNINGFIELD, PLEASE CONTACT
NATALIE EIBES, AT 312-729-4122

(1) Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/factsheets/AdultCigaretteSmoking_FactSheet.htm Accessed on March 17, 2006

(2) American Cancer Society ''Guide to Quitting Smoking'' Available at http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_10_2X_Cigarette_Smoking.asp?site area=PED

(3) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2004. http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/sgr/sgr_2004/Factsheets/2.htm

(4) Committed Quitters. http://www.quit.com/news.aspx?id=123

(5) Shiffman S, Dresler CM, Hajek P, Gilburt SJ, Targett DA, Strahs KR. Efficacy of a nicotine lozenge for smoking cessation. Arch Intern Med. 2002 Jun 10; 162(11):1267-76.

Contacts: Natalie Eibes, GolinHarris
312-729-4122
neibes@golinharris.com

Malesia Dunn, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare
412-200-3544
malesia.a.dunn@gsk.com

PRNewswire -- March 23

Source: GlaxoSmithKline

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