Clinical experience with lobeline as a smoking cessation agent

Sublingual tablets containing 7.5 mg of lobeline sulfate, recommended to be taken nine times per day for six weeks, resulted in a smoking cessation rate, during the last four weeks of the study, of 29 %, compared to the placebo quit rate of 17 % (p = .28). This dosage schedule was selected from a short-term study in which the reduction of tobacco withdrawal symptoms by 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 mg lobeline sulfate sublingual tablets taken 3, 6, 9 or 12 times per day was evaluated. The dosing frequency of nine per day is consistent with blood and brain T-1/2 values of 30-40 minutes in rats.