An Investigation into the Effect on Cigarette Smoking of a New Anti-Smoking Preparation

Abstract

A preparation claimed to help patients to break the habit of smoking has recently been introduced. Material released in the mouth from a lozenge causes such an unpleasant taste when tobacco smoke is inhaled that the subject is unable to continue smoking. The lozenges are also claimed not to affect the flavour of food and drink. These claims have been investigated in a double-blind trial on thirty subjects, fifteen of whom took the active preparation and fifteen the placebo. Two lozenges were sucked three times during the course of one day, two of the doses preceding meals so that any effect on the enjoyment of food could be assessed. The subjects smoked a cigarette at intervals after each dose and recorded their subjective responses. The active preparation was shown to be effective in producing a distaste for cigarette smoking for a duration of ninety minutes without seriously affecting the subject's enjoyment of food.