Individualizing Pharmacotherapy for African American Smokers

The objective of this study is to examine the efficacy of optimized (OPT) versus enhanced usual care (UC) treatment for smoking cessation. African American smokers randomized to OPT (n=196) will receive high intensity smoking cessation counseling, nicotine patch (NP), and up to two pharmacotherapy optimizations [varenicline (VAR), bupropion (BUP) plus NP, ] based on verified smoking status at Weeks 2 and 6. African American smokers randomized to enhanced UC (n=196) will receive the same high intensity counseling and NP with no optimizations in pharmacotherapy. Pharmacotherapy and counseling in both groups will last for 18 weeks with long‐term follow‐up through Week 26. The primary outcome is biochemically‐verified smoking status at Week 12.