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Joan Stephenson, PhD

JAMA. 2000;284:822.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

A medication used to treat psoriasis can help a smoker light up less frequently by partially blocking the body's ability to metabolize nicotine, according to new research supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), published in the July 2000 issue of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

Heavy smokers typically work to maintain blood nicotine levels to prevent the discomfort of withdrawal by lighting up or by using a nicotine patch or gum. But researchers at the University of Toronto have discovered that the urge can be partly suppressed with a drug called methoxsalen, which reduces the activity of a nicotine-metabolizing enzyme called CYP2A6.

By making nicotine linger longer in the blood, methoxsalen can improve the effectiveness of oral nicotine replacement in lowering a smoker's craving for nicotine. The researchers also found that when smokers taking the drug do smoke, they take fewer and shorter puffs . . . [Full Text of this Article]