TO SLASH the death toll from tobacco, governments should make cigarettes
safer rather than attempt to eradicate smoking in one step, a group of experts
concluded this week. The committee, assembled by the Royal College of
Physicians, said new regulation is needed to ensure cigarettes satisfy addicts鈥�
nicotine cravings without greatly increasing their risk of cancer or heart
disease. 鈥淚t may be necessary to accept, albeit reluctantly, the intractability
of widespread nicotine addiction in the short to medium term,鈥� their report
concludes.
鈥淎 government agency should make sure nicotine delivery systems are as safe
as any other drug delivery system,鈥� says the committee chairman, John Britton of
Nottingham University. Governments might insist on filters and tobacco treatment
processes that reduce levels of toxins like tar in cigarette smoke
(快猫短视频, 8 May 1999, p 18).
Clive Bates, director of Action on Smoking and
Health, agrees that this approach would save lives. 鈥淐urrent nicotine delivery
devices are far too dangerous,鈥� he says.