Smokers of "Lights" Less Likely to Quit
June 30, 2006
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- People who smoke so-called light cigarettes may be fooling themselves into thinking they don't really need to kick the habit.
According to new research out of the University of Pittsburgh and Harvard University, people who smoke low-tar, low-nicotine brands are about half as likely to quit smoking as those who smoke the full-flavored varieties. That figure rises to 76 percent among people ages 65 and older.
More than one third of people who smoke light cigarettes also believe light brands are less harmful to their health. Highly educated white women are most likely to link lights with fewer health problems.
Unfortunately, that's just not the case, note the investigators. Studies have repeatedly questioned whether light cigarettes really do contain less tar and nicotine than regular brands, and others have indicated no reduction in smoking-related health risks from smoking light brands.
"Because smoking is such a major cause of death and disability in this country and worldwide, we believe that it is critical to give smokers accurate information on the potentially detrimental effects of the use of lights to reduce health risks and the potential impact on subsequent smoking cessation," says study author Hilary Tindle, M.D., M.P.H.
Light cigarettes now make up about 90 percent of all cigarettes sold in the United States. Dr. Tindle says her findings suggest more than 30 million American smokers are wrongly assuming lights reduce the adverse effects of smoking.
SOURCE: American Journal of Public Health, published online June 29, 2006
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