INTRODUCTION: Māori experience a disproportionate amount of smoking-related harm 
(46% of adult Māori smoke). Effective cessation treatments that are both 
accessible and attractive to Māori are urgently needed. Cytisine (a plant 
extract found in Golden Rain [Cytisus laburnum L.] and the New Zealand Kowhai 
[Sophora tetraptera L.] has a similar molecular makeup to nicotine, has been 
used successfully as a cessation product in central and eastern Europe and 
central Asia for many years, and is low priced. Recent reviews have found that 
cytisine is twice as effective as a placebo for smoking cessation. This study 
aimed to explore cytisine's potential as a 'rongoā Māori' (traditional Māori 
remedy) and its attractiveness to Māori smokers compared with other cessation 
products.
METHODS: Māori that smoked were interviewed in two focus groups and eight 
individual semi-structured interviews. Two key informants were interviewed also.
RESULTS: Barriers to using cessation products were financial and effort cost, 
pervasive smoking among family and peers, environments permissive of smoking, 
and perceived cultural inappropriateness of treatments. Participants were very 
interested in cytisine, supported the idea that it would be acceptable to 
package it as a rongoā Māori, and all wanted to use it. Named appropriately, 
packaged and promoted as a Māori cessation product, participants thought 
cytisine would contribute to the restoration of Māori identity and traditional 
beliefs and practices in addition to reducing smoking.
CONCLUSIONS: Presented as a rongoā Māori, cytisine would likely be more 
attractive to Māori than currently available cessation products. Confirmation of 
efficacy and safety will be needed before promotion of the product could occur.