Is there a pill to help people quit smoking?

The FDA Approves Pfizer Anti-Smoking Pill

The FDA approves Pfizer's new anti-smoking pill, varenicline. Pfizer plans to market the new medication later this year as Chantix. Varenicline works by cutting the pleasure of smoking and reducing the withdrawal symptoms that lead smokers to light up over and over again.

Several studies conducted in Europe on about 2,000 smokers and presented in November at an
American Heart Association conference showed that a year after initial treatment with varenicline, abstinence rates were 22 percent, versus 16 percent among those given Zyban. Just 8 percent of those given dummy medicines had stopped after a year. [link]

Varenicline binds to the same receptors in the brain that nicotine binds to. Binding to these receptors leads to the release of dopamine in the pleasure centers of the brain. Taking varenicline blocks nicotine from binding and activating the release of dopamine. The most common side effect of Varenicline is nausea.

The other pill approved for smoking cessation is bupropion (tradename Wellbutrin and Zyban).