The drug approach is pushed by the pharma industry of course, exploiting the natural appeal of the idea that one can just take a pill to fix a problem that is a

The drug approach is pushed by the pharma industry of course, exploiting the natural appeal of the idea that one can just take a pill to fix a problem that is as complicated as addiction. Doctors prescribe these because they (probably rightly) believe not that the drugs are harmless, but that the side effects of the drug are less harmful than the direct effects of continuing to smoke. Really quitting takes either a major motivating scare like a cancer diagnosis (for some people even that isn't enough) or a very determined decision to stop.