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Smoker's
Aid
By
Hilary
Davidson
A
traditional
herbal
remedy
may
make
it
easier
to
quit
smoking
for
good.
Health
Canada
recently
approved
Butt
Out!
for
Life.
It
uses
Lobelia
inflata,
better
known
as
Indian
tobacco,
as
its
active
ingredient.
An
alkaloid
in
the
plant
that
is
similar
to
nicotine
but
less
potent
and
nonaddictive
blocks
nicotine
from
the
nucleus
accumbens
–
the
brain’s
pleasure
centre.
Users
take
a
capsule
three
times
daily.
Butt
Out!
for
Life,
developed
by
Larry
Kunkel
of
Garibaldi
Highlands,
B.C.,
is
sold
at
drugstores
and
health-food
stores
nationwide
for
about
$25
for
a
month’s
supply.
But
prevention
is
still
better
than
cure.
“The
vast
majority
of
young
smokers
believe
they
will
quit
in
the
next
few
years,”
says
Les
Hagen,
executive
director
of
Action
on
Smoking
&
Health
in
Edmonton.
A
1996
Statistics
Canada
report
found
that
48
per
cent
of
females
aged
15
to
24
in
Alberta
(31
per
cent
across
Canada)
were
lighting
up.
“About
80
per
cent
will
go
on
to
be
long-term
smokers.
And
one
in
two
smokers
dies
of
a
smoking-related
illness,”
Hagen
says.
From
the
June
1998
issue
of
Canadian
Living
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