"Quit or die. That's the message cigarette smokers get from the public health community," writes ACSH president Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. "But in fact, smokers who have trouble quitting have some rarely mentioned alternatives to total abstinence from tobacco: it s a method of intervention called 'tobacco harm reduction.' In Dr. Whelan's most recent op-ed, she discusses the need for greater public education about harm reduction for smokers, especially for those who repeatedly try to quit but fail. Increasing public awareness is particularly crucial now, as the FDA has just issued new guidelines that will make make marketing modified-risk tobacco products even tougher.
