For example, there is the danger that some adolescents may use lowered weight as a stimulus or rationalization for continued smoking. Thus, smoking prevention or cessation programs should take this possibility into account. Future research should also examine the relationship between trajectories of smoking and check details other health-related behaviors. This research also provides evidence for associations between parental and participants�� educational levels, as well as healthy habits including diet and physical exercise and lowered obesity in adulthood. Consequently, prevention programs for smoking should include these areas and should be initiated at a young age. In addition to physical exercise, smoking programs should include knowledge about the consequences of smoking (e.g., physical and mental health problems).

Smoking intervention programs should specifically target those individuals who use smoking as a means to control their weight. Related to this, smoking cessation programs should emphasize the importance of appropriate eating, balanced nutrition, and physical exercise as a means of weight control instead of smoking. In addition, weight control programs should have smoking cessation efforts as integral components and should begin at an early age for those with high BMI. From an intervention perspective, an integrated program including both smoking cessation or prevention and encouragement of a healthy lifestyle should be most effective.

Funding This research was supported by three grants from the National Institutes of Health: Research Scientist Award DA00244 and research grant DA03188, both from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and research grant CA94845 from the National Cancer Institute, all awarded to JSB. Declaration of Interests None declared. Acknowledgments The authors thank Dr. Martin Whiteman for his insightful comments on improving our manuscript. We also thank the editor and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments, which improved the paper appreciably.
Smoking is the leading preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, and smoking-related illnesses cost $96 billion annually (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2008b). In 2007, the adult smoking prevalence was 19.8% (CDC, 2008a). Currently available drugs for smoking cessation Cilengitide have limited long-term efficacy. Exploration of novel pharmacotherapies is needed to increase options for smokers, enhance long-term efficacy, and address the needs of smokers with comorbidities (e.g., seizure disorder, bulimia, anorexia nervosa) preventing the use of existing treatments (e.g., bupropion SR; Hays & Ebbert, 2003). Gabapentin is an antiepileptic drug (Gilron et al.