The Nation - News from Jan. 7, 1988

Researchers at the Gentofte Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark, have found that heavily dependent smokers were five times more likely to stay off cigarettes for two years if they used double-strength nicotine gum rather than the standard variety. In their study, published in today’s New England Journal of Medicine, they tested gum that contains 4 milligrams of nicotine, twice the nicotine intensity of Nicorette gum, the brand sold by prescription in the United States. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals plans to ask the Food and Drug Administration for permission to sell a 4-milligram version of Nicorette in the United States. Nicotine gum is intended to satisfy smokers’ craving for nicotine while they break their tobacco habits.