Smokin’

By Sanket ‘not delivering pizzas’ Kambli


Yeah this write-up hasn’t got anything to do with Smokin’ Joe’s or even for that matter a pizza. Some researchers at The University of Minnesota have made a startling revelation, at the American Association for Cancer Research's annual Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research meeting, in Baltimore, USA. They found that some products are not good alternatives for people trying to quit smoking. The products they were talking about were smokeless tobacco products. Products like moist snuff and hard snuff lozenges fall into this category. According to their research, people trying to quit smoking should stop thinking about these products being good alternatives. They also found that medicinal anti-smoking products such as a nicotine patch are a much better aid in helping people kick the habit. Stephen Hecht of the University of Minnesota Cancer Center said, "Collectively, these results indicate that most smokeless tobacco products are not necessarily a safe alternative to smoking and are inferior to medicinal nicotine products with respect to carcinogen exposure," "Smokeless tobacco products should not be considered an acceptable substitute for cigarette smoking, especially when relatively harmless medicinal nicotine products are available," Hecht said. Fellow researchers at the University of Florida, added, smokeless tobacco may encourage some teens to start smoking, as according to them, the use of smokeless tobacco did not increase smoking-cessation success rates. "Based on this evidence, we feel that the use of smokeless tobacco is rarely a successful strategy for smoking cessation in the U.S. and may actually be a risk factor for starting to smoke," study lead author Scott Tomar said in a prepared statement. "There is insufficient evidence that using smokeless tobacco is effective, feasible or acceptable as a smoking-cessation strategy in most populations." Every year, millions of Americans try to quit smoking, and millions fail. "When we talk to smokers across America, only one in five are using the counseling and medicines we know will increase their likelihood of success," said Dr. Michael Fiore, a professor at the University of Wisconsin Medical School and founder of the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention. Studies have shown that when trying to quit smoking without help, the chance of success is only 5 percent. They say what smoker’s need most is a comprehensive quit plan, which should start with counseling. They also said that smokers who use telephone counseling when they're about to quit are two to three times more likely to succeed than those who don't get this help. Many help lines send out quit smoking guides on coping skills, dealing with stress, withdrawal symptoms, and (perhaps most important) the use of medicines. Many smokers mistakenly try to avoid using nicotine replacement products. Researchers say smokers today have more tools to help them quit than ever before. If only they would use them.
(Facts sourced from a report "World News Tonight." for ABC News' filed by John McKenzie)