Money's Better Than E-Cigs Or Nicotine Gum At Helping Smokers Quit, Says Study (reuters.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Providing free electronic cigarettes or other stop-smoking products to employees to get them to give up real cigarettes is less effective than the threat of taking away a cash reward for quitting, according to a new study that weighs the effectiveness of a variety of workplace incentive programs. The findings, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, call into question the claims by e-cigarette enthusiasts that the devices may be better than traditional quit aids at helping smokers to stop. The study is also significant because it may be the first to look at programs to get all smoking employees to quit, whether or not they've decided they want to do so. The results show that if the motivation isn't there, neither are the positive results. 9.5 percent of participants who got the free smoking cessation products plus a cash reward ($100 for the first month, an additional $200 at the three-month mark and $300 if they stayed smoke-free for six months) for staying away from tobacco quit.

Comments

Re: I'm not convinced.

[AvitarX]

I guess I'm not considering lighter smokers (and not RTFA), I could totally see the money swaying a few a pack a week smoker and I know a couple of them (I'm skeptical that they're being honest with how many they actually smoke, but that doesn't matter when calculating what they think they spend).

Also, someone that buys by the pack may not see $6/day as $180/month, so $100 up front may help.

Also, if they self report, lies/truth bending are a thing. Like, if I were to lose $300 for saying I bummed a smoke at the bar two weeks ago, I'd never admit it, but if it was to test the effectiveness of vapes, I'd be completely honest.

Lastly, I'm really skeptical they used good vapes. I tried to quit with vaping twice, on tiny lil things, the worst. But a 100w modbox with all day battery, and all day tank did the trick (don't use even close to 100w, but those are the ones with the all day battery).

Aside: I think Europe's 2ml tank law is a big mistake, it will make it much harder to step down nicotine (whenever I step down nicotine I go through tanks quickly for a few days, it's a pain, but I've done it five times and soon I'll be at zero), and even when at a nice balance, kind of be a pain. I don't see the point of 10ml bottle limits either, but actually think the required testing is OK.

Re:I'm not convinced.

[BlueStrat]

I smoked a pack a day, and ended up using a vape (a mod box, not a little stick thing which has failed me in the past) to quit.

I save far more than the money they're talking about, and actually quit.

People buy a carton at a time, $100 isn't really much more than just quitting rather than buying a carton.

I smoked ~2-1/2 packs/day for 45+ years and also quit by switching to vaping using a mod-box. Tried those little pen/stick types and ended up going back to smoking. Don't even get me started about those crappy little things the tobacco companies have been trying to push. They're horrid. and that's being generous.

I agree completely, the money they're talking about is less than the money saved from quitting. I know that even the savings combined with the cash payment TFA refers to would not have motivated me enough to quit. Now I'm 3+ years smoke-free. The best part for me is that I'm a musician in a working band and in many venues I don't have to go outside to smoke between sets, often in bitter winter cold which isn't good for a guitarist's hands.

Strat