Here’s the Wikipedia definition:

Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is the use of various forms of nicotine delivery methods intended to replace nicotine obtained from smoking or other tobacco usage.

These products are intended for use in smoking cessation efforts to help deal with withdrawal symptoms and cravings caused by the loss of nicotine from cigarettes.

Several forms of NRT have been marketed, including the nicotine patch, inhaler, nasal spray, gum, sublingual tablet, and lozenge.

NRT is thought to be useful and beneficial for tobacco users who want to quit their addiction and is for most people perfectly safe. Cigarettes on the other hand cause the early deaths of about 5 million people each year.

These people are not killed by the nicotine in the cigarette, but by other constituents of tobacco smoke such as Carbon Monoxide and tars. It is the nicotine that keeps the smoker addicted. Cigarettes can be viewed as a “dirty” and dangerous method of delivering nicotine, while NRT is a “clean” and safe method.

• At today’s prices, a 20-a-day smoker will spend more than £37,000 over the next 20 years See how much you’ve spent so far
• About 106,000 people in the UK die each year due to smoking
• If you contine smoking, there’s a 50% chance it will kill you
• Dying from a smoking related illness is not pretty. You can expect several years of illness and distressing symptoms before you die
• Your life expectancy is about 8-12 years less than a non-smoker
• It is never too late to stop smoking to greatly benefit your health. For example, if you stop smoking in middle age, before having cancer or some other serious disease, you avoid most of the increased risk of death due to smoking
• Cigarette smoke contains 60 substances that are known to cause cancer.
• You could be killing others. About 2,700 people aged 20-64 and a further 8,000 deaths a year among people aged 65 years or older die from second hand smoke
• You could be hurting your kids. Infants of parents who smoke are more likely to be admitted to hospital for bronchitis and pneumonia in the first year of life. More than 17,000 children under the age of five are admitted to hospital every year because of the effects of passive smoking.
• On July 1, 2007 smoking was banned in all indoor public places. This includes pubs, shopping centres, bingo halls, nightclubs, cabs and private members clubs.
• The skin of a 40 year old smoker is as damaged as that of a 60 year old non-smoker.