Tobacco.org

• Editorial: Adding harm reduction to tobacco control 

“There is no good reason why a switch from tobacco products to less harmful nicotine delivery systems should not be encouraged.” So stated a 1991 Lancet Editorial, yet 16 years later cigarettes continue to dominate the nicotine-delivery system market, despite their clear health risks. . . .

Britton, Edwards, and the other members of the RCP's Tobacco Advisory Group advocate a courageous approach to nicotine addiction. Greater availability of medicinal nicotine, and perhaps even of low-toxicity smokeless products, along with increasing restrictions on smoked tobacco, is likely to reduce tobacco-related mortality and morbidity. Given the known hazards of smoked tobacco, and the numbers of people who smoke, innovative thinking is needed. We support tobacco harm reduction alongside rigorously applied tobacco control policies.

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