I don’t know, how effective the gum is going to be for a heavy smoker who wants to quit, but I am pretty sure vaping can be more effective than the gums. I’ve seen many people who have successfully quit smoking after vaping. My father is one among them. He used to be a heavy smoker for more than 10 years. He wanted to quit smoking when he started experiencing health issues. He tried all he could, gums, cold turkey and all the other, but was only successful with the help of vaping. Maybe you could also try that. These days vape juices are easily available. My father gets ejuice from an e juice wholesale in Canada. You can start with higher Nicotine content and then reduce it accordingly, that’s how my father did it. Hope this small experience helped you decide?