'Lights' and 'Low-Tars' Keep Smokers Hooked

MEDIA RELEASE
5 September 2007

'Lights' and 'Low-Tars' Keep Smokers Hooked

An Australian researcher told the Oceania Tobacco Control Conference in Auckland, New Zealand today that nothing less than a ban on 'light', 'mild' and 'low tar' cigarettes will be effective in reducing their attractiveness to smokers.

Ron Borland, from VicHealth Centre for Tobacco Control, told the 370 international delegates that 'low tar' cigarettes and their ilk have no credibility in terms of harm reduction. Research shows addicts take more and deeper puffs per cigarette, thereby receiving the same amount of nicotine and tar as smokers of 'normal-strength' cigarettes.

"The current strategy of just forcing tobacco companies to remove the terms 'light' and 'mild' from the packs is inadequate. We need to remove the engineering features that make some cigarettes taste milder, yet still deliver the same amount of poison," Professor Borland said.

"It is immoral to mask the inherent toxicity of cigarette smoke by making it taste milder, thus lulling smokers into a false sense that they are less harmful."

Professor Borland concluded that governments should be encouraged to ban these cigarettes and not let them reappear, labelled with colours or fancy names like 'Smooth', 'Fine' and 'Ultimate'.

"So called low tar cigarettes vanishing from shelves might trigger people who smoked them to quit altogether, if the only remaining options are cigarettes that taste stronger and harsher," Prof Borland said.

ENDS

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