Some users of nicotine gum -- a popular smoking-cessation tool -- complain that they were able to quit smoking but got hooked on the gum instead. Now, observers of U.S. politics are wondering if Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama falls into that category.

The New York Times reported Nov. 2 that Obama has been using Nicorette gum for nine months in an attempt to quit smoking, which is six months longer than recommended.

Overall, relatively few people use products like Nicorette, partly because of the dire addiction warnings that appears on packages. "The problem is not that people use it too much," said Lynn T. Kozlowski, interim dean of the school of public health and health professions at the University at Buffalo. "The greater problem is that they use it too little. People use it for a week, and then they are back smoking cigarettes."

But some individuals use smoking-cessation products as a long-term solution, popping in a piece of gum when exposed to cigarette smoke, for example. Doctors encourage users to slowly cut down on the gum but, as Scott Sherman of New York University's School of Medicine said, "If I had a choice between them being on Nicorette gum or going back to smoking, there's absolutely no question the gum is better."