I found the Ozempic for smokers. Within aweek, I'd quit

Last November, the NHS announced a miracle cure for smokers: a demo graphic I’ve identified with from the age of 14.

- WILLIAM HOSIE

Better than a nicotine patch and much better than a vape, GPs are now able \ to prescribe a pill called Varenicline for 12 weeks (24 in severe cases). It’s essentially Ozempic for smokers.

Varenicline is a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and has some of the highest success rates among smoking cessation techniques. It also costs next to nothing: £9.90 for 28 tablets in local pharmacies, amounting to two weeks’ worth of treatment.

Varenicline is the upgraded version of an old pill by Pfizer sold under the brand name Champix, which was shelved in 2021 because it contained too many nitrosamines, naturally occurring compounds that typically appear during food processing and — ironically for something found in an anti-smoking medicine — can be carcinogenic.

Obtaining a prescription to Varenicline is laborious, as not all GPs are aware of it. Eventually, I was walking home from the pharmacy clutching a little packet with instructions, each pill numbered according to the day it should be taken.