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Anti-Smoking Vaccine Is Nearing the Market
eldavojohn writes "Almost 6 years ago we discussed a vaccine to help people quit smoking as it entered human clinical trials. Now it looks like the finishing touches have been put on a deal that will go into effect once phase III testing of the drug now called NicVAX is completed. NicVAX was developed by Nabi Biopharmaceuticals, who have agreed to license it to GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals; it is expected to complete phase III testing successfully. Others have fallen short of this goal, in pursuit of a smoking-cessation market expected to hit $4.6 billion worldwide by 2016. Nabi has also sold an experimental vaccine for staph infections; and in 2008 we discussed news of a cocaine vaccine."
Not sure why it reminds me of this movie .. :)
To me, it sounds more like the story of Equilibrium...
Palm trees and 8
It's not an either-or. If you own cigarettes, then they own you.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
I hear will-power and the notion of a life plagued by health problems followed by an early death completed clinical trials sixty years ago. What's more, there are no side effects, and when taken properly, there is a 100% chance of success.
Oh, yes, willpower. Just like everyone getting to be an astronaut if they just want it bad enough. Nevermind the host of withdrawal symptoms, the psychological aspects of which are more severe than most people can imagine. Case in point: a veteran friend of mine quit smoking. He had his PTSD and depression under perfect control for years until his family pressured him into quitting cold-turkey because "all he needed is willpower." Things went downhill fast, but he was hassled by everyone for wanting to start again because he wouldn't be "man enough" if he couldn't quit. Three days later, he committed suicide in front of his wife and two children.
Grow up and realize that not everything is as cut and dried as your tunnel-vision world view.
Well of course nicotine is going to be the hardest drug to kick. Its A) Available, you don't have to go to some shady part of town to buy it, you find it easily enough in every single gas station, grocery store, etc. B) It is socially acceptable C) It is cheap
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
This has me worrying about "vaccines" for other drugs. In a century, maybe nobody in the USA will be able to relax with $drug_of_choice, because of mandatory "vaccination" against the effects of any psychoactives.
Palm trees and 8
I was 1/2 to 1 pack a day for 13 years - then the day before my 26'th birth day i realized that 1 more day and i would have smoked for 1/2 my life and at that point i was a smoker never a non smoker.
looked at the one in my hand - dropped it through the pack i had away and that was it.
Sure i had cravings - i chewed tooth picks for weeks - some times i miss the flavor but to be honest i can't even stand the smell of it any more if i'm around smokers.
Congrats for quiting - and while i'm glad i quit - i'd never be a zealot to go and tell smokers they need to quit, it's a personal thing - but quitting is defiantly a mind over matter thing
'...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
I quit smoking 4 weeks ago. I have a pack in my freezer that I bought as a "just in case." I could easily throw them away as I don't smoke anymore, or I can look at them and know I don't need them. So I own cigarettes and now, they don't own me. Poor choice of words, but I get your point.
I started smoking when I was 16, and have been trying to quit ever since.. Once going over a year, only to return, though smoking less. At 24 I tried the patch and gum to no great effect. At 30 I vowed never to buy another pack, and I haven't in 3 years, however I still bum them from friends..
I just can't seem to ever quit entirely, and the idea of a vaccine that would finally let me kick the habit is one I happily welcome.
Live EVERY week... Like it's Shark Week
The only reason why this is necessary is because a compound that already exists is illegal and not profitable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibogaine
Quitting smoking was the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life. All 5 times. Quit cold turkey, nicorette, patch, nicorette again, and then hypnosis.
It finally stuck. 8 years quit now. But it was effing tough each time. Including the hypnosis.
If the world hadn't turned so anti smoking in the 8 years since I quit, I wouldn't be surprised if I had relapsed. The fact that I can go out to eat or to a bar or even to work and not have smokers in my face all the time helps.
That and having a kid. Certainly motivates you to keep the quittin' up.
Thus it became trivial to bum a smoke, whenever. It became habitual, and eventually I was buying my own packs of tobacco, rolling papers and filters. I enjoyed it, to be certain, but I didn't really let myself smoke more than two or three cigarettes a day because I knew it has deleterious health effects. It took a while for me to notice any physical effects, and I attribute this to having been working on losing weight and so regularly exercising and taking care of myself very well. It also took a while before I noticed that I... well, kinda always smelled like smoke.
And so, around the same time we both decided we wanted to cut down on smoking or maybe quit. After cutting down some, my roommate stumbled upon enough information about e-cigarettes to intrigue her into buying a starter kit. It came in the mail shortly after the order (the good retailers of these things ship fast) and it was quite exciting to be there when she opened up the package and put it together!
The first thing we noticed trying it out is that it is not terribly similar to cigarette smoke other than the superficial. Yeah, the e-cigarette generates heat as you inhale, but the vaporization point of the "smoke juice" (propylene glycol, nicotine, flavors and preservatives) is sufficiently lower than the heat of burning tobacco that you notice the difference. It is slightly acrid feeling/tasting compared to smoky and tar-laden. Replacing the taste of tobacco you have a huge variety of flavors: espresso, menthol, chocolate, black cherry, applice cider, green tea with honey and even classic tobacco flavors if that's what you really enjoy!
The acrid nature of the vapor from an e-cig is truly only something I noticed at first; like an acquired taste, eventually I learned the nuanced characteristics of the e-cig vapor and I found it much more pleasant than even hookah smoke. It didn't leave any odors or was even detectable from more than a couple feet away indoors! The nicotine is there at whatever strength you specify and so there is that satisfying buzz. After long we were both exclusively e-cig smokers due to how truly delightful it is compared to tobacco. We'll both enjoy the occasional actual smoke, her moreso than I, but it's not even approaching habitual.
I don't see the point of this "vaccine" because I don't think that nicotine is in and of itself all that harmful. It's enjoyable to smoke for many people, and similarly is it enjoyable to vaporize some smoke juice in your miniature fog machine! I suggest to anyone looking to quit smoking to try this alternative. The particular kit I enjoy is the Joye 510 (purchased from e-SmokeyTreats who have great prices [especially with the purchase code "save10"] and fast shipping), and the other fine mini e-cig my friends enjoy is the DSE 901. (The primary differences you'll find are in style of mechanism, whether activated by inhaling or by a button.)
Brian Fundakowski Feldman
I quit cold turkey when my father was diagnosed with lung cancer aged 56 and have not smoked a cigarette since. That was after an 18 year, 1.5 packs a day habit.