Concerns about cigarette alternative
Jump to full article: Edmonton (Alb) Sun (ca), 2007-09-13
Author: JEREMY LOOME, SUN MEDIA
Intro: A top tobacco researcher says snus is a better alternative for chronic smokers than cigarettes - but stops well short of calling it a smoking cessation aid.
And a leading Alberta health advocate says there's a risk snus will become a gateway to cigarettes if it isn't marketed separately from cigarette brands, as has traditionally been the case in Sweden.
Jonathan Foulds, a School of Public Health researcher at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, has studied the Swedish tobacco product - which is about to be introduced in Alberta - extensively over the last decade.
"My general take is that if a tobacco company, which for its main business has been selling millions of cigarettes, decided to try and make a living selling a product that's 90% less harmful, then I don't think we should discourage it," said Foulds.
"But the truth is that there haven't been any proper, randomized trials that can compare smoking tobacco with a placebo, ideally, or with existing cessation products. So I don't think anyone can claim this is more effective.
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