The most effective way my friends found to reduce their need for nicotine patches, etc. was to decrease their smoking gradually by lengthening the time they went between cigarettes. They weren't deprived, just smoking less by the time they set their cut-off date.
Two pack-a-day smokers who try to quit suddenly are the ones who suffer so much from the withdrawal (and yes, there is a chemical dependence going on). As much as the body wants you to stop smoking, sometimes it is physically difficult for heavy smokers to just "stop". When a person's mind is made up, it becomes easier to tolerate the temporary discomfort of changing a habit without resorting to "big Pharm" products. Yet, for some, it is the very expense of the "big Pharm" products that helps them follow through...so, I say "whatever works"...
Honestly, I don't know "who's in bed with who" in the Pharm/Tobacoo/Government relationship...but those people I know who have successfully stopped smoking are glad they did...and most of the smokers I know say they wish they were non-smokers, but they are unwilling to quit for reasons as varied as the reasons they began smoking in the first place.
I don't either. But Big Tobacco sold us out so I don't feel sorry for them.
But many many of us really enjoy smoking! It's just a big part of our lives, and it's been a right that we have always enjoyed. We want to perserve Freedoms. For you and for us. Smokers do not want the whole world. We just want some of it. 