For those trying to kick their smoking habit with nicotine patches and gum, a new, long-term study suggests the expensive products are a waste of money. Released Monday by Harvard’s Center for Global Tobacco Control, the study followed a sample of almost 2,000 smokers and recent quitters, interviewing them three times between 2001 and 2006 about their use of gum, patches, periods of abstinence, and relapses. During each interview period, the study found that roughly one third of the people trying to quit had relapsed, and the use of nicotine-replacement products had no effects on their results.
