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Figures for tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide are misleading and should be removed
Jump to full article: British Medical Journal, 2004-10-08
Author: Nigel Gray, Peter Boyle
Intro: Admitting mistakes can be difficult, correcting them even harder. Labelling cigarette packets with tar yields (plus nicotine and carbon monoxide) was, and is, a mistake. The mistake was not in the conception of the low tar programme, or even in conducting it as a huge experiment with public health. The error was allowing the tobacco industry to control it. . . .
The machine measured figures for tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide should be removed from the packet, and a realistic measure must be established for regulatory purposes (as Canada has done). The current health warnings deal qualitatively with the risks of smoking very well, and misleading figures on the packet can only do harm.
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Quotes from this article:
Labelling cigarette packets with tar yields (plus nicotine and carbon monoxide) was, and is, a mistake. The mistake was not in the conception of the low tar programme, or even in conducting it as a huge experiment with public health. The error was allowing the tobacco industry to control it.
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