Kentucky Cancer Center Urges Smokers to Switch to Smoke-Free Tobacco. But is it Really a Better Option?

Source: Yourlife.USAtoday.com In the smoker-heavy state of Kentucky, a cancer center is suggesting something that most health experts won't and the tobacco industry can't: If you really want to quit, switch to smoke-free tobacco. The James Graham Brown Cancer Center and the University of Louisville are aiming their "Switch and Quit" campaign at the city of Owensboro. It uses print, radio, billboard and other advertising to urge smokers to swap their cigarettes for smokeless tobacco and other products that do not deliver nicotine by smoke. Supporters say smokers who switch are more likely to give up cigarettes than those who use other methods such as nicotine patches, and that smokeless tobacco carries less risk of disease than cigarettes do. "We need something that works better than what we have," said Dr. Donald Miller, an oncologist and director of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, which supports the effort along with the University of Louisville. "This is as reasonable a scientific hypothesis as anybody has come up with and it needs to be tried." The campaign runs counter to the prevailing opinion of the public health community, which holds that there is no safe way to use tobacco. Federal researchers, however, have begun to at least consider the idea that smokers might be better off going smokeless. The National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health says on its website that the use of all tobacco products "should be strongly discouraged," and that there is "no scientific evidence that using [...]

Tobacco “Orb” lozenge new threat to teens

Source: MetroSource News Author: staff A new lozenge made from tobacco hits some stores in January. "USA Today" says R.J. Reynolds, the maker of Camel cigarettes, is calling the melt-in-your mouth product "Orb." It's designed for smokers who can't light up in restaurants or at the office. But public health officials fear it'll end up in school lockers and backpacks too. One official from Harvard's School of Public Health called it, quote, "a wake-up call." Gregory Connolly said, quote, "These products are designed to enhance social acceptability of tobacco." He likened them more to food and said that while sucking on an Orb may be less dangerous than smoking a Camel, it's still addicting. The Orb is the latest smoke-free tobacco product, following on the heels of "snus," or pouches that sit in the mouth and aren't spit out. A spokesman for Philip Morris, which makes snus, said smokeless tobacco sales are growing annually by between six and eight-percent, while cigarette sales are falling by about two to three-percent a year. The Orb makes its debut in Portland, Oregon, Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis in January.

2008-12-29T20:27:28-07:00December, 2008|Oral Cancer News|
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