These are acceptable and effective ways to quit smoking. However, over-regulation of these products is damaging its potential benefits:

. . . the warning literature on a package of nicotine gum is about 20 times lengthier than the warning on a package of cigarettes.

So tobacco researchers and policy makers are starting to argue that the federal Food and Drug Administration should tone down the warnings on pharmaceutical nicotine. At a day-long summit last week in Austin, Texas, entitled “The Case for More Flexible Regulatory Policy,” public-health experts discussed a number of changes they may seek to current regulations. Among other possibilities, they say they may recommend relaxing the health cautions for pregnant women and eliminating the requirement that teenagers refrain from using over-the-counter nicotine products without the approval of a physician.