The new miracle drug

I ran across this poster ad today, and it struck me: This is the new miracle drug that tobacco companies have been looking for!

Cigarettes have become socially unacceptable, and tobacco companies have had to change their name.

But nicotine gum! It’s socially acceptable, because “at least you’re doing something about your smoking habit”, and you’re not harming other people with second-hand smoke. Heck, doctors will even recommend them to you. It’s got all the benefits of sustainable revenue that cigarettes do, with none of the bad vibe.

The price per miligram of nicotine is almost the same as for cigarettes. Compare nicorettes’s price of kr. 55.25 for 30 times 2 mg, or 1.1 kr/mg, to this chart (from Norway, can’t seem to find any from Denmark) with average content 0.83mg per cigarette, which comes out to 1.2 kr/mg. And it would be my guess that taxes are significantly lower on the gum than on cigarettes, so even more profitable.

On this page (in Danish) they recommend that you stay at your normal level for 2-4 months, before gradually starting to reduce your nicotine intake.

That, of course, is bollocks. Either just quit (not cold-turkey, you want to be mentally prepared), or gradually reduce your intake over 4 weeks. But why on earth wait 2-4 months before doing so? Could it be so the drug company can make a little more money on your addiction?