PDF page 19 of the Guide tells doctors and other health care providers that: "Pharmacotherapy is recommended for all dependent smokers who express an interest in quitting, except where contraindicated." Doctors are told that "first line options are medicines that have been shown to be effective" and in "Australia these are NRT (brands include Chemist's Own Nicotine, Nicabate CQ, Nicorette, Nicotinell, QuitX and others), varenicline (brand name Champix) and sustained release preparations of bupropion hydrochloride (brand names Buproprion-RL, Clorprax, Prexaton and Zyban SR)." PDF page 29 tells physicians that "all forms of NRT (at equivalent doses) are similarly effective in aiding long term cessation," that "all forms of NRT can increase the rate of quitting by 50-70 percent." Not once does the Guide warn doctors that NRT's 50-70% rate reflects efficacy over placebo, findings from studies that we now know were not blind as claimed
That the phallic, post-coital cigarette should be the object of the new puritanism is hardly surprising in a culture that still, to paraphrase HL Mencken, remains haunted by the fear that someone, somewhere, may be enjoying themselves
While this would involve a substantial revision of the current strategy for nicotine control, such an approach would align with the harm minimisation principles which underpin Australias National Drug Strategy [24]
As age increases, the relevant importance of cardiovascular diseases decreases while mostly that of neoplasms increases
