Is using smokeless tobacco products a healthy alternative to cigarette smoking?
No, using smokeless tobacco products is not a healthy alternative to cigarettes and should be avoided. • Ingesting tobacco in any form is harmful and addictive. • Use of smokeless tobacco products moderately raises the risk of fatal heart attacks and fatal strokes in long-term users. It also raises the risk of certain cancers. • Promotion of smokeless tobacco may lead to fewer people quitting smoking and more dual use of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products together. Are e-cigarettes considered a form of smokeless tobacco? E-cigarettes are powered by a battery which heats a liquid form of nicotine into a vapor, which is then inhaled. They are marketed as an alternative to smoked tobacco products but e-cigarettes do not contain tobacco. For this reason, they were not included in this policy statement on smokeless tobacco products. However the AHA does advocate for FDA regulation of e-cigarettes, under the FDA’s drug and medical device authority and for additional research on the us
