Anti-smoking will be bigger business

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Scott Jagow: There’s been a change in attitude toward smoking in this country, of course, but 65 million Americans still do it. A report out today predicts the next decade will bring a new wave of products to help people quit. Danielle Karson has more.

Danielle Karson: Many smokers who want to quit look to pills and patches for help. And it’s a pretty lucrative industry, according to today’s report from market research firm Datamonitor.

In 2006, smokers spent $213 million on smoking cessation products. By 2016, that figure is expected to jump to roughly $4.5 billion.

Dr. Richard Brown, a public health policy analyst at UCLA, isn’t surprised:

Dr. Richard Brown: There are still millions of people who smoke, and they make many attempts to quit.

Brown thinks government should also get in the act by funding more programs to discourage people from lighting up in the first place.

Brown: That’s a public health approach that is more effective in the long run, and far cheaper.

In the meantime, two soon-to-be released nicotine vaccines are expected to pump up sales of smoking cessation products. But they’re not panaceas — according to clinical trial results, the shots aren’t likely to reduce a smoker’s craving for nicotine.

In Washington, I’m Danielle Karson for Marketplace.