Online ‘penny pill’ triples smokers’ chances of quitting

London: A new study has found that a nicotine substitute that can be bought online for just 12p can more than triple a smoker’s chances of quitting for at least a year.

Tabex, which contains the active ingredient cytisine, is obtained from laburnum seeds and experts believe it is as effective as conventional stop-smoking treatments, Sky News reported. The trial, involving 740 patients, found that people who wanted to stop smoking were 3.4 times more likely to succeed with Tabex than with a “dummy” placebo tablet. Participants took between two and six pills per day for 25 days. After treatment, 8.4 percent of those given Tabex were able to avoid smoking for a year compared with 2.4percent of the placebo group. ANI