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Types of Cancer > Lung Cancer > Smoking Cessation
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| The Truth About Light Cigarettes: Questions and Answers (Part I) |
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What is the scientific evidence about the health effects of light cigarettes?
1. The Federal Government’s National Cancer Institute (NCI) recently concluded that light cigarettes provide no benefit to smokers’ health.*
2. According to the NCI report, people who switch to light cigarettes from regular cigarettes are likely to inhale the same amount of hazardous chemicals, and they remain at high risk for developing smoking-related cancers and other diseases.
3. There is also no evidence that switching to light or ultra-light cigarettes actually helps smokers quit.
What do tobacco companies say about the health effects of light cigarettes?
1. The tobacco industry’s own documents show that companies were well aware that smokers of light cigarettes compensate by taking bigger puffs.
2. Industry documents also show that the companies were aware early on of the difference between machine-measured yields of tar and nicotine and what the smoker actually inhales.
3. The NCI report concluded that strategies used by the tobacco industry to advertise and promote light cigarettes were intended to reassure smokers and to prevent them from quitting, and to lead consumers to perceive filtered and light cigarettes as safer alternatives to regular cigarettes.
What is the bottom line for smokers who want to protect their health?
1. There is no such thing as a safe cigarette. The only proven way to reduce your risk of smoking-related disease is to quit smoking completely.
2. Here’s good news: Smokers who quit before age 50 cut their risk of dying in half over the next 15 years compared with people who keep smoking.
3. Quitting also decreases your risk of lung cancer, heart attacks, stroke, and chronic lung disease.
How can you quit smoking for your health—and for the ones you love?
For more information about smoking and advice on quitting, contact:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Telephone:
1–800–CDC–1311 (1–800–232–1311)
Internet Web site:
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco
National Cancer Institute
Telephone:
Smoking Quitline 1–877–44U–QUIT
(1–877–448–7848)
Internet Web site:
http://www.smokefree.gov
This fact sheet is a joint effort of the Office on Smoking and Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute.
* National Cancer Institute. Risks Associated with Smoking Cigarettes with Low Machine-Measured Yields of Tar and Nicotine. Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph 13. Bethesda, MD: NCI, 2001.
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Source:
National Cancer Institute
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