Beginning January 1st, an additional $1 dollar cigarette tax will be added to each pack of cigarettes purchased in Texas. CBS 11 News is reporting that this will raise the price of a pack of cigarettes to $4 dollars, or ten more dollars a carton, and smokers are stocking up on cartons of cigarettes before the tax hike goes into effect.

In the past, states that have increased taxing of cigarettes have seen a positive effect on the number of people who quit smoking, for no other reason than purchasing cigarettes becomes too cost prohibitive. The American Cancer Society (ACS) is looking forward to this happening, as they predict it will keep 300,000 people from starting up and cause 100,000 current smokers in Texas to quit.

Smoking has indeed become an expensive habit since the days when the government gave away cartons of cigarettes to World War II soldiers in the belief it calmed their nerves.

Meanwhile, back in Texas, CBS 11 News quoted Discount Cigarettes manager Patrick Ingram as saying, "Every state has their own tax, so you're not supposed to take large quantities across the border. So, people will go buy truck loads and bring across the border, or just steal."

That's probably true, to a lesser extent, but the ACS is right, the increased overall price for a pack of cigarettes when the new tax is implemented will prompt more people to quit smoking and deter even more from starting a habit that is not only increasingly expensive but just plain bad for your health.

Smoking is not an easy habit to break, and of the many methods tried, only a handful seem to work. Of the methods that do seem to work -- nicotine-replacement products; bupropion drugs; counseling; classes; calling a helpline or talking to a health professional -- younger smokers between the ages of 16 and 24 years who smoke and try to quit only use one of the recommended methods of help by talking to a professional. Because of this, younger smokers are less likely to be successful in quitting, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

During the 2003 National Youth Smoking Cessation Survey, the CDC found that younger smokers most often tried to quit smoking by cutting back on the number of cigarettes they smoked each day; not buying cigarettes; exercising; using the buddy system and trying to quit with a friend; telling others they were quitting and changing to a lighter brand of cigarette, switching to chewing tobacco, snuff, or other tobacco products. None of these methods are recommended by the US Public Health Service.

According to the National Youth Smoking Cessation Survey, 77 percent of younger smokers have tried to quit at least once without success. Over a third have tried to quit smoking numerous times without success. Researchers suggest that many younger smokers may need help with other high-risk behaviors such as binge drinking; depression or ADD/ADHD.

If you are a younger smoker who is trying to quit, the CDC encourages you to call 1-800-QUIT-NOW or talk to your physician about methods that might lead to more success. The 2-page summary of the National Youth Smoking Cessation Survey is available as a pdf document.

While public and private groups, along with researchers and a few drug companies, have been making serious efforts to help smokers quit smoking cigarettes, the tobacco industry has been spiking the level of nicotine in cigarettes, according to a study by the Department of Public Health. Between the years 1998 to 2004, the amount of nicotine in cigarettes has risen by ten percent.

According to Lois Keithly , director of the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program, "We in public health have tried to spend a lot of time figuring out why people don't stop smoking."

Full withdrawal will be felt after the first day of not smoking. But symptoms from nicotine withdrawal are felt within the first 30 minutes after the last cigarette, with smokers reporting cravings within the first hour after the last cigarette. In one hour, smokers reported anger. In three hours of smoking cessation, smokers reported heightened levels of anxiety, sadness and difficulty concentrating. Nicotine is what makes cigarettes so addictive.

The Boston Globe reports when contacted, representatives of the three major tobacco makers in the US declined to comment on the study and would not answer questions about the nicotine content of their products.

On the anniversary of ABC News anchor Peter Jennings lung cancer death, Diane Sawyer spoke with medical editor Dr. Timothy Johnson about the impact Jennings death had for smokers. He indicated that while they do not have exact numbers, ABC was overwhelmed with telephone calls and emails from smokers asking for help or saying they were going to quit smoking as a result of the loss of Jennings.

There are 48 million smokers in the US, and 40 percent have tried to quit smoking. According to Dr. Johnson, only 20 percent of smokers who try to quit make use of aids available to help them -- patches, gum, antidepressants -- and only 5 percent of smokers are able to quit long term.

When Sawyer asked what message Dr. Johnson felt Jennings would want to convey to smokers, he said that Jennings would say, "keep trying, no matter how many times you try and fail to quit, keep trying -- each time you do is one more chance to become successful at quitting for good."

Dr. Johnson said Jennings, who admitted he was a heavy smoker for years before quitting, was a fighter. Dr. Johnson said Jennings would tell everyone who smokes to keep fighting to quit. ABC News has made the video of the interview, One Year Later: The Impact of Peter Jennings' Death, available online.

Pfizer announced that Chantix (varenicline), a drug designed to help smokers quit smoking, is now available in US pharmacies. This is the first new prescription drug for smoking cessation treatment approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in a decade. When prescribed Chantix, smokers will be offered a chance to participate in a behavioral modification program called GETQUIT Support Plan at no extra cost.

Chantix acts on the areas of the brain affected by nicotine and helps those who smoke cigarettes to quit smoking in two ways: by providing some nicotine effects to ease the withdrawal symptoms and by blocking the effects of nicotine from cigarettes if they start smoking again. There is no magic bullet here, although in clinical trials the drug quadrupled the chances of a smoker quitting and was shown to be twice as effective as the currently prescribed drug Zyban.

Pfizer Helpful Answers has a program available for people without prescription coverage. People with low incomes may even qualify for free medications. For more information about Chantix and the free GETQUIT program, visit the Chantix website.

Last month, we posted information about NicVAX -- an experimental nicotine quit smoking vaccine and more recently we posted information about Chantix -- a drug that might quadruple success for smokers who want to quit. So this post is not about information we have already posted, but about a few interesting facts I came across while reading a Washington Post news feature Doctors Test Anti-Smoking Vaccine.

The reporter mentions a study participant in the anti-smoking vaccine trial currently underway, and said that he has smoked nearly half a million cigarettes in half a century. That is an astonding number of cigarettes, and I don't know that many smokers actually stop to do the math. The news story also quotes Dr. J. Taylor Hays, a smoking cessation expert at the Mayo Clinic, who helped test Chantix, as saying, "The typical patient is a 30-year-old woman who says, 'If I gain 5 pounds, I'm going back,'" referring to women who try quit smoking programs and nicotine replacement aids. There might be safer weight-loss programs out there that do not run the risk of cancer outcome. Just a suggestion.

The article goes on the state that of the more than 48 million smokers in the United States, 40 percent each year make a serious attempt to quit, but fewer than five percent succeed long-term. Two-thirds go back to smoking within a month.

Addiction to cigarettes has been compared to the power of heroin addiction, but it is not impossible to stop and if the researchers keep focusing on better ways to help people quit smoking, everybody wins. Well -- except for the tobacco industry -- but who cares about companies in the business of doing harm.

The Washington Post had done a nice feature on the anti-smoking vaccines being tested with Doctors Test Anti-Smoking Vaccine. I recommend the read.

Almost two months ago, we posted that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, was fast-tracking a potentially promising new drug to help smokers quit smoking. In earlier clinical trials, Chantix, varenicline tartrate, worked in ways that previous smoking cessation drugs did not, indicating a higher success rate where other drugs had failed.

Chantix acts on the areas of the brain affected by nicotine and helps those who smoke cigarettes to quit smoking in two ways: by providing some nicotine effects to ease the withdrawal symptoms and by blocking the effects of nicotine from cigarettes if they start smoking again.

Now, according to three studies published in the July 5 Journal of the American Medical Association, it is being reported that Chantix quadruples the chances that a smoker can quit smoking and is twice as effective as the currently prescribed drug Zyban. Keep in mind though, the research was funded by the drug maker, Pfizer, and experts warn that the drug is far from a perfect solution for smokers trying to quit -- and "definitely not a panacea for smoking cessation."

According to Dr. Steven Galson, Director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, "Chantix therapy has proven to be effective in smokers motivated to quit and will provide another tool for physicians to use for the millions of smokers who want to quit." I believe this is a more realistic assessment of the ability of a medication designed to help smokers quit smoking.

UPDATE: Chantix: quit smoking drug now available in US pharmacies.

A new, and potentially effective drug, to help cigarette smokers quit smoking has been fast tracked for approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Chantix, varenicline tartrate, works in ways that previous smoking cessation drugs did not, and might lead to a higher success rate where the other drugs have failed.

Chantix acts at the areas of the brain affected by nicotine and helps those who smoke cigarettes to quit smoking in two ways: by providing some nicotine effects to ease the withdrawal symptoms and by blocking the effects of nicotine from cigarettes if they start smoking again.

"Cigarette smoking is a very difficult habit to break due in large part to nicotine dependence or addiction," said Dr. Steven Galson, Director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "Chantix therapy has proven to be effective in smokers motivated to quit and will provide another tool for physicians to use for the millions of smokers who want to quit."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 44.5 million adults in the United States smoke cigarettes and more than 8.6 million of them have at least one serious illness caused by smoking. Chantix should be available later this year. I think the operative word here is motivated to quit smoking. Addiction is a complex physical, mental, emotional and spiritual problem. A magic pill to make the addiction go away would be nice. I am not so sure I believe in that kind of magic -- although I am relatively certain it will help some smokers quit smoking.

UPDATE: Chantix: quit smoking drug now available in US pharmacies.