Doctor encourages smokers to quit

The Great American Smokeout on Nov. 18 is right around the corner, challenging smokers to quit for at least one day and hopefully propelling them to make it a lifelong decision.

Since 1977, the Great American Smokeout has driven a cultural revolution against big tobacco companies, inspiring community action programs, smoke-free ordinances, and tobacco prevention legislation.

However, recent efforts by tobacco companies to market a "reduced exposure" cigarette through high-profile ads in the Phoenix-area serve to undermine the success of past smokeouts by advocating a dangerous alternative.

Cigarette companies have long been researching what are known as "reduced risk" or "harm reduction products." JP Morgan estimates $3 billion has been spent by tobacco companies on the development of reduced risk products over the last five years.

In weighing any alternative to smoking, three fundamental facts are paramount: all tobacco products are hazardous; there is no safe level of tobacco use; and the only proven way to reduce the burden of disease and death due to tobacco is to prevent its use and to help users quit.

We also need to be mindful of the lessons learned from our experience with so-called "low tar and low nicotine" cigarettes, which the tobacco industry began marketing in the 1960s. When an extensive objective-testing program of those products was put into place more than 20 years later, it found smokers who switched to light cigarettes did not reduce their lung cancer risk.

Furthermore, there is no convincing evidence that changes in cigarette design and lowered toxins have or will result in a decrease in diseases caused by cigarettes.

But by stating that cigarettes have fewer toxins, the companies are definitely appealing to concerns about health. For example, these claims provide new smokers with a false sense of security; current smokers may see reduced harm products as a viable alternative to quitting, and some past smokers who have quit may return to using tobacco because they think these products make it safe to do so.

Until the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is given full authority over the manufacturing, marketing and sale of all tobacco products, customers smoking these "safer" products are essentially human guinea pigs in another deadly tobacco company science experiment.

There are 46 million adult smokers in the United States, or just over 23 percent of the population. The prevalence of smoking has decreased considerably since the early 1960s, and during the 1990s dropped about 1 percent per year. Today, we have much to offer people who smoke and want to quit.

Unlike cigarettes, smoking cessation medications must undergo extensive testing for safety and effectiveness, and be scrutinized through objective review, prior to their release to the public. When used as directed, about 25 percent of those using such products are able to quit smoking long term.

The only proven way to reduce the death and disease caused by tobacco use is to prevent youth from starting to smoke, and to help current smokers to quit. These are and must remain our highest priorities.

The Great American Smokeout is an opportunity to make positive healthy decisions that can change your life. If you are thinking of quitting or know of someone who is, let the Great American Smokeout be your springboard and call the Maricopa County Tobacco Use Prevention Program at 602- 372-7272 to register for a free "Stop Smoking" class.

Lawrence Sands, D.O., M.P.H., is the director of the Division of Chronic Disease and Tobacco Control at Maricopa County Department of Public Health.

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