Cry Freedom
In the face of 1,300 smoker deaths per day, Doctor Brad Rodu calls for the acceptance of smoke free nicotine alternatives.
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by Dave Cross
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“Tobacco policy in the U.S. is driven by prohibitionists who insist that smokers quit nicotine and tobacco altogether,” says Rodu. “They ignore the fact that nicotine, although addictive, is not the major cause of any disease associated with smoking. Nicotine is similar to caffeine, which is addictive but safely consumed by millions daily in coffee, tea and cola drinks. Science shows that it’s the smoke that kills, yet the government refuses to tell smokers about far safer alternative products like smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes.”
Brad refers to the Swedish snus success story. Snus is a moist powder placed under the lip and available in assorted flavours. Despite some shock studies to the contrary, snus has been warmly welcomed by Norway and Sweden because, as Rodu explains, “statistically, smokeless users have about the same risk of dying from their habit as automobile users have of dying in a car accident.”
Sweden is often held up as a gold standard in harm reduction, and decried for the same reason, but the truth is that the country constructs its responses on a topic-by-topic basis. For example: the Swede’s approach to drug control has raised a lot of criticism for being harsh and not embracing harm reduction. Snus demonstrating real world harm reduction is why it has been embraced.
“Research shows that smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes have helped many smokers quit deadly cigarettes,” continues Rodu. “Tobacco prohibitionists inaccurately portray smoke-free products as causing teen smoking, but there is no evidence for these claims. National surveys show that teen smoking has declined to record lows.”
Rodu’s theme is carried on by ACSH’s Gil Ross, who writes: “Smoking-related illnesses are the most important preventable killers in our nation, yet governments and regulators are tightening restrictions on methods to help smokers quit all over the land. Just this week, San Francisco banned smokeless tobacco in outdoor arenas: what possible public-health benefit can that yield, we wonder?”
Ross continues: “In a sane world, Dr. Rodu would not have to make a case for smoke-free products; it would be an obvious benefit for smokers. Instead, as he points out and as we have noted on numerous occasions, trying to get the facts about harm reduction out to smokers has been thwarted by a conspiracy involving government ‘public health’ officials, academics, and Big Pharma to keep smokers hooked on deadly combusted tobacco.”
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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