Comon sense from down under, from Brisbane Times:
Encourage smokeless tobacco: experts
January 5, 2008 - 7:14PM
Public health experts are calling for smokeless tobacco to be stocked in pharmacies so smokers have access to an arguably safer nicotine alternative.
The controversial idea is being touted by Queensland medical specialists who argue that oral snuff, banned in Australia since 1991, should be made available as a new way to encourage smokers to quit the habit.
Studies from Sweden, where so-called snus is widely used, suggest it doesn't increase rates of oral cancer or cardiovascular disease like cigarettes do. However, other research has linked it to increased rates of pancreatic cancer.
Wayne Hall, a professor of public health policy at the University of Queensland, and his colleagues argue that snus, a moist mini "teabag" of tobacco that is tucked between the gum and upper lip, may be affective in helping some of Australia's 2.9 million smokers give up.
"We think it is unethical to deny smokers access to a product that may reduce their health risk while cigarettes are readily available and very few quit attempts succeed," Prof Hall wrote in the latest Medical Journal of Australia.
"Many former smokers in Sweden have quit through using snus, suggesting it may be a more effective cessation aid and a more attractive long-term alternative than pharmaceutical nicotine because its nicotine delivery and social aspects are similar to those of smoking."
The specialists call for "absurdly high" import taxes recently imposed on smokeless tobacco to be reduced to make the products more affordable.
With legislative changes, they could be sold under the counter in pharmacies and doctors and quit lines could encourage inveterate smokers to make the switch "as a way of reducing the harm caused by their tobacco use".
Prof Hall said the process would need to be carefully regulated to ensure non-smokers were not taking up the habit, or that smokers were not using the products as an occasional alternative when inconvenient smoking bans prevented them from lighting up.
Professor Simon Chapman, a professor of public health at the University of Sydney, said it was important in ensure any introduction of smokeless tobacco actually reduced overall harm.
He said tobacco companies could use the legalisation to put brand names on snus products and indirectly boost cigarette sales.
And while they couldn't advertise directly, they could employ viral and buzz marketing tactics to encourage dual use, especially among younger people.
"The challenge remains of how to provide choice to smokers without repeating the catastrophic legacy that the history of allowing cigarettes to be sold from every conceivable retail outlet, packed and advertised beguilingly, has brought," Prof Chapman said.
© 2008 AAP
Encourage smokeless tobacco: experts
January 5, 2008 - 7:14PM
Public health experts are calling for smokeless tobacco to be stocked in pharmacies so smokers have access to an arguably safer nicotine alternative.
The controversial idea is being touted by Queensland medical specialists who argue that oral snuff, banned in Australia since 1991, should be made available as a new way to encourage smokers to quit the habit.
Studies from Sweden, where so-called snus is widely used, suggest it doesn't increase rates of oral cancer or cardiovascular disease like cigarettes do. However, other research has linked it to increased rates of pancreatic cancer.
Wayne Hall, a professor of public health policy at the University of Queensland, and his colleagues argue that snus, a moist mini "teabag" of tobacco that is tucked between the gum and upper lip, may be affective in helping some of Australia's 2.9 million smokers give up.
"We think it is unethical to deny smokers access to a product that may reduce their health risk while cigarettes are readily available and very few quit attempts succeed," Prof Hall wrote in the latest Medical Journal of Australia.
"Many former smokers in Sweden have quit through using snus, suggesting it may be a more effective cessation aid and a more attractive long-term alternative than pharmaceutical nicotine because its nicotine delivery and social aspects are similar to those of smoking."
The specialists call for "absurdly high" import taxes recently imposed on smokeless tobacco to be reduced to make the products more affordable.
With legislative changes, they could be sold under the counter in pharmacies and doctors and quit lines could encourage inveterate smokers to make the switch "as a way of reducing the harm caused by their tobacco use".
Prof Hall said the process would need to be carefully regulated to ensure non-smokers were not taking up the habit, or that smokers were not using the products as an occasional alternative when inconvenient smoking bans prevented them from lighting up.
Professor Simon Chapman, a professor of public health at the University of Sydney, said it was important in ensure any introduction of smokeless tobacco actually reduced overall harm.
He said tobacco companies could use the legalisation to put brand names on snus products and indirectly boost cigarette sales.
And while they couldn't advertise directly, they could employ viral and buzz marketing tactics to encourage dual use, especially among younger people.
"The challenge remains of how to provide choice to smokers without repeating the catastrophic legacy that the history of allowing cigarettes to be sold from every conceivable retail outlet, packed and advertised beguilingly, has brought," Prof Chapman said.
© 2008 AAP
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