Light And Low Tar Cigarettes Not The Answer Say Researchers

light cigarettes are just as detrimental to health as full strength ones

Common wisdom says that if you are thinking about quitting cigarettes you should start to smoke lighter versions of your regular cigarettes so that you will gradually wean yourself off the tar and nicotine. However new research shows that this is actually counterproductive to your smoking cessation efforts. Professor Hilary Tindle, from the University of Pittsburgh, Division of General Internal Medicine said that her research showed that when people switched to light cigarettes there was a significant likelihood that they would continue to smoke rather then quit.

Her study looked at a survey done back in 2003 on almost 31,000 smokers in America. She saw the 38 percent of them had started to smoke light cigarettes and out of these just over ¼ said they had done this for reasons of taste, but 43 percent mentioned that they were switching because they eventually wanted to quit. From detailed statistical analysis however it appears that those who did switch were almost 50 percent (46%) less likely to have quit over the next few years.

It appears that people who start smoking light cigarettes convince themselves that since they are smoking “a healthy cigarette” they have less to worry about with regard to the hundreds of illnesses and health conditions that smoking can bring on. They manage to kid themselves that they don’t need to give up so badly now that they are smoking light cigarettes as they did when they were smoking the full tar versions.

Another theory put forward by Professor Robert West from the University College London was that people who turn to low tar and light cigarettes may be subconsciously aware that they are chronically addicted and therefore unable to quit.

You should remember that “light cigarettes” are just as detrimental to health because many studies have shown the low tar and light cigarettes don’t in fact contain less cancer agents and no matter what brand you smoke, Professor Tindle said that the average smoker would die between 13 to 14 years before the average nonsmoker.

In the European Union legislation has already been enacted which means that tobacco companies are forbidden to actually call their products ‘low tar’ or ‘light’. The new research was published in the journal Tobacco Control.