Zipper, I respect you for not veiwing pills lightly. Hell, I won't even take an aspirin unless I've got a fever and chills, and then I usually don't. No, my herb is all I usually need. Like many here, I've been prescribed everything from Wellbutrin to Zaney bars over the years, and none of it helped me one iota. Turns out, I wasn't as crazy as I was sick. And that's the issue I have with pills--the medical community is pretty sure that there is a magic bullet for all your ills if they can just figure out which one to prescribe for you. That's total and complete baloney.
I'm not sure something like Chantix is worse than nicotine as far as altering your mind--ever quit for a few days and smoked a cig? You get dizzy as hell for a few minutes.
Zyban/Wellbutrin: no good for smoking cesation/no good for anxiety/only good for Big Pharma (Did you know that Zyban cost twice what Wellbutrin cost but they, as you said, are the same pill?).
Here's how I understand Chantix: Say you have a cup that holds your desire to smoke a cigarette. When you smoke, this cup fills up and you are satisfied (your addiction is satiated for the moment). Or, if you take a Chantix, it fills that cup like a cig does, and you are satisfied. It's not nicotine, so you don't remain an addict while taking it. And, you can take it while you're still smoking and you won't get nicotine poisoning. It never affected my brain outwardly at all.
It's not something you take the rest of your life either. The first time I quit using Chantix, I stopped taking it too soon and fell back on the sword. The second time, I kept taking it for a good month after I'd quit smoking. That will be 2 years ago this spring--Yee-friggin-haw!
Man, not to sound like the poster-boy for any drug, but I'd like to see everyone nicotine free. That crap is straight up poison(seriously, it's poison--the pest control outfits used to use it to kill bugs but in concentrated form it's too dangerous for human contact).
Good luck either way with quitting. There is only one other method I know that is totally foolproof: get your biggest and baddest buddy to right hook you in the chops everytime you light one up.