Does Smokeless Tobacco Help Smokers Quit Cigarettes?
UC San Diego Researchers Find No Such Association in the U.S. Some smokers say they just can’t quit cigarettes. But previous studies of smokers in Sweden have suggested that many have done just that, by switching to smokeless tobacco. While not without health risks, smokeless tobacco is less harmful than cigarettes. With that in mind, an international team of researchers asked the question, “Should public health officials start promoting smokeless tobacco as a way to reduce the overall harm caused by tobacco?” The answer: “Not so fast.” According to a study from the University of California, San Diego and Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet, there are important differences between the United States and Sweden with respect to how people use—and quit—tobacco. The study, in the online issue of Tobacco Control, examined data from more than 15,000 individuals in the U.S. who were surveyed twice, a year apart, to get a picture of tobacco use and cessation in the U.S. “In Sweden, many smokers have
