Pubdate: Sat, 12 Feb 2000
Source: New Scientist (UK)
Copyright: New Scientist, RBI Limited 2000
Page: 5
Contact:  http://www.newscientist.com/
Author: Michael Day

IF YOU CAN'T QUIT, TRY A SAFER CIGARETTE

TO SLASH the death toll from tobacco, governments should make cigarettes 
safer rather than attempt to eradicate smoking in one step, a group of 
experts concluded this week. The committee, assembled by the Royal College 
of Physicians, said new regulation is needed to ensure cigarettes satisfy 
addicts' nicotine cravings without greatly increasing their risk of cancer 
or heart disease. "it may be necessary to accept, albeit reluctantly, the 
intractability of widespread nicotine addiction in the short to medium 
term," their report concludes.

"A government agency should make sure nicotine delivery systems are as safe 
as any other drug delivery system," says the committee chairman, John 
Britton of Nottingham University. Governments might insist on filters and 
tobacco treatment processes that reduce levels of toxins like tar in 
cigarette smoke (New Scientist, 8 May 1999, p 18). Clive Bates, director of 
Action on Smoking and Health, agrees that this approach would save lives. 
"Current nicotine delivery devices are far too dangerous," he says. 
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