3 ms·

> Not what I'd call the best harm minimisation strategy At some point in your life, a tobacco company has marketed something at your in such a way that they've

> Not what I'd call the best harm minimisation strategy At some point in your life, a tobacco company has marketed something at your in such a way that they've conveyed a mistruth; they lied to you. Shocking, I know. "Light" cigarettes are not better for you. There is no "harm minimisation". Tar and nicotine are a "measured" by percentage of puff multiplied by the expected number of puffs in the burn duration. Cigarettes are "lightened" by adding perforations in the filter tip so the smoker inhales air at the same time. This lowers the concentrations of smoke, lowering the measurements above. The industry standards for "light" and "ultralight" are just boundaries around tar measurements. The problem is the "burn duration" used to calculate all this is normalised at a static rate and not at real flow. It's basically a made up length of time based on the observation of lighting a cigarette and letting it burn down. There's less airflow through the tobacco in a light cigarette, so it burns a lot slower. Its smoker gets more drags. The amount of tobacco and nicotine and tar is the same. The amount delivered isn't as appreciably different as a smoker might like. This is reflected in countless outcome studies. Just as many people die from smoking light cigarettes.

zumu 10y ago
> The amount of tobacco and nicotine and tar is the same. The amount delivered isn't as appreciably different as a smoker might like. If light cigarettes have any amount less tar, then that's still an improvement. Anecdotally, I smoked for 8 years and used ultra light cigarettes (1-3mg) as a tool to cut down and eventually quit.
- oliwarner 10y ago
  Also an ex-smoker. I don't think the psychology or physiological methods of breaking addiction are that clear or consistent for populations. Feeling like you were getting less might have been the progress you needed, irrespective of your actual blood-nicotine levels. Conversely, I dicked around with various NRTs, various actual doses but nicotine cravings and the fear of even worse cravings kept me returning to cigarettes. To quit, I had to go cold turkey. It was the psychological and physical finality that let me let go. For me the finality was important. I'd read a fair amount about breaking addiction and people describing it as the most traumatic thing in their life and that's a narrative that's very commonplace in quitting services, NRT products. It makes quitting a very scary prospect. Moreso to an anxious, risk averse guy in his late 20s. In reality, even cold turkey is only horrible for a short amount of time. A couple of weeks... Which is nothing for the lifetime and quality of life you regain. I reflected on fear-of-quitting a month after my last cigarette. https://thepcspy.com/read/breaking-the-habit/ https://thepcspy.com/read/breaking-the-habit/ Anyway, my point above is that in terms of actual damage done, a cigarette is a cigarette. There may be slight variances and you can trick yourself into thinking different things, but physiologically, the same stuff happens.

zumu 10y ago

> The amount of tobacco and nicotine and tar is the same. The amount delivered isn't as appreciably different as a smoker might like. If light cigarettes have any amount less tar, then that's still an improvement. Anecdotally, I smoked for 8 years and used ultra light cigarettes (1-3mg) as a tool to cut down and eventually quit.

oliwarner 10y ago
Also an ex-smoker. I don't think the psychology or physiological methods of breaking addiction are that clear or consistent for populations. Feeling like you were getting less might have been the progress you needed, irrespective of your actual blood-nicotine levels. Conversely, I dicked around with various NRTs, various actual doses but nicotine cravings and the fear of even worse cravings kept me returning to cigarettes. To quit, I had to go cold turkey. It was the psychological and physical finality that let me let go. For me the finality was important. I'd read a fair amount about breaking addiction and people describing it as the most traumatic thing in their life and that's a narrative that's very commonplace in quitting services, NRT products. It makes quitting a very scary prospect. Moreso to an anxious, risk averse guy in his late 20s. In reality, even cold turkey is only horrible for a short amount of time. A couple of weeks... Which is nothing for the lifetime and quality of life you regain. I reflected on fear-of-quitting a month after my last cigarette. https://thepcspy.com/read/breaking-the-habit/ https://thepcspy.com/read/breaking-the-habit/ Anyway, my point above is that in terms of actual damage done, a cigarette is a cigarette. There may be slight variances and you can trick yourself into thinking different things, but physiologically, the same stuff happens.