June 26, 2006 (http://www.jointogether.org/news/headlines/inthenews/2006/nicotine-drink-marketed-as.html)

News Summary

Nic Lite, a lemon-flavored drink containing nicotine, is being pitched as a way for smokers to get their fix of the drug in places where they can't go for a smoke, ABC News reported June 24.

An 8-ounce bottle of Nic Lite contains about the same amount of nicotine as two cigarettes. The drink was initially pitched to air travelers at Los Angeles International Airport barred from smoking on airplanes; now, the drink is also being sold in some convenience stores.

Nic Lite is not regulated like nicotine patches or gums because it is considered a dietary supplement -- a fact that angers some critics. "You're basically putting a drug in a soda can," said Yale Medical School professor David Katz. "Calling it a dietary supplement is ridiculous."

"Somehow the FDA has either been fooled or has made another of a long line of bad decisions over the last 10 years or so," added Sydney Wolfe of the group Public Citizen. "[Nic Lite makers] know that once people start buying this, whether they're smokers or not, they may well become addicted and they've got a long-term customer."

Some health experts worry that Nic Lite will get youths hooked on nicotine, but Katz said the risk of addiction is not too high. "The biggest difference is that the gum and the patch are used to help you quit smoking," he said. "When we ingest something, most chemicals that get into the bloodstream go through the liver and that sort of filters those chemicals out. So there tends to be less of an effect when you ingest something than when you smoke it or absorb it through the skin.

"So it's going to be less intense and less addictive by mouth than if you smoke it or wear the patch," Katz continued. "But don't let that fool you -- you still get the nicotine hit. That's why the gum, which in essence is ingested, works."

The upside of Nic Lite is that it does not cause cancer.

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