Clinical Trial Suggests E-Cigarettes May Be As Safe, Effective as Nicotine Patch for Quitting

Nanny staters still cracking down

Taking a drag from an e-cigarette may be just as safe and effective as slapping on a nicotine patch for smokers struggling to quit, according to the first physician-run trial to compare the two products.

About one in 20 people who used either patches or e-cigarettes managed to quit completely six months after the test started, according to research published today in The Lancet. Meanwhile, users of electronic cigarettes—battery-powered devices that deliver vaporized nicotine—were more likely to have cut their use of the real thing in half even if they didn't quit entirely.