Tobacco.org

• Smokers balk at new cigarette touted as more healthful 

Allen says he was convinced enough by the health claims to give Eclipse a try. In accepting a carton of the cigarettes at the request of a reporter, he had to promise to set aside his usual brand, Merit Ultra Light, and try to smoke Eclipse exclusively for one week. That's how long the manufacturer thinks it takes for a motivated smoker to adjust to the new brand. . .

Smokers can't look to the federal Food and Drug Administration for help because the agency has no control over tobacco products.

Ironically, they might tune in to the very organizations that are trying to get them to quit smoking.The American Heart Association and other health groups have released a study of Eclipse that challenges its claim that smoke from the new brand contains fewer cancer-causing chemicals than other ultra-light brands.

In response, the company said it stands by its own tests that indicate cigarettes may be safer when the tobacco is heated rather than burned. . .

Not true, responds Seth Moskowitz, the company spokesman. "If someone wants to quit, we encourage them to quit."

It took only 14 hours to persuade Allen to quit smoking Eclipse. His brief experiment convinced him that a so-called healthier cigarette wasn't necessarily a good-tasting cigarette. He described it as tasting like burning plastic and burning paper. . .

Ellen Savage, a 30-year-old waitress, bowed out of her effort to smoke Eclipse after she had tried less than a pack. "To smoke these for a week would take discipline," says Savage, a smoker for 10 years. "If I had that kind of discipline, I wouldn't be smoking."

Jump to full article »