One type of treatment involves scheduled smoking. This strategy includes reducing an individual’s nicotine intake gradually over a period of a few weeks by getting nicotine users to agree t increase the time between cigarettes for example. The cigarettes are smoked on a schedule provided by a treatment team, not when the smoker feels an intense craving. By doing this, the individual’s smoking behavior is controlled by the passage of time rather than by urges, mood states, or situations.
Another type of treatment is reducing a smokers craving for nicotine by providing it in a different way -- this is called nicotine replacement treatment. The idea behind nicotine replacement treatment is to help smokers endure the nicotine withdrawal that accompanies any effort to stop smoking.
Finally, the use of certain types of pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation has included the drug clonidine and silver acetate. Also, the use of Varenicline has shown to be effective for the treatment of nicotine dependence.