By Gilbert Ross, M.D.
Posted: Friday, August 31, 2007

LETTER
Publication Date: August 31, 2007

This letter appeared in the August 31, 2007 Baltimore Examiner:

Your article about the risks of smokeless tobacco is misleading and does a disservice to smokers who might read it. ("Tobacco study finds chewing more harmful than smoking," Aug. 28) The cancer rate among smokeless users is a small fraction of that of smokers. This is true even for cancers of the oral cavity, larynx and tongue. Cigarettes are far more hazardous than is smokeless tobacco.

Given the fact that quitting cigarettes is so difficult -- less than 20 percent successfully stay off smoking for one year after quitting, despite all the available gums and patches -- using smokeless tobacco as a cessation aid may be an effective option for some. In Sweden, a high percentage of smokers have quit by switching to smokeless tobacco, called "snus" there. Reading the misleading headline -- not even the study authors would state that their results show that smokeless is "more harmful" than smoking -- some addicted smokers may be fearful of trying to quit by using smokeless, and subsequently go on to develop a lethal smoking-related illness.

Dr. Gilbert Ross
Medical and Executive Director
The American Council on Science and Health

 

See also: ACSH's brochure, full report, and journal paper on smokeless tobacco as a safer alternative to cigarettes for nicotine addicts.