In a new twist on the fight against cancer, the James Graham Brown Cancer Center and the University of Louisville are aiming a “Switch and Quit” campaign to a town in Kentucky. Billboards and other ads are urging smokers to switch to smokeless tobacco in an effort to get more people to quit smoking.
Controversial campaign
Other cancer centers have flat out said that using any kind of tobacco is dangerous. In fact the National Cancer Institute says there is “no scientific evidence that using smokeless tobacco can help a person quit smoking.” However, these new ads have people talking and some experts believe that people who switch to smokeless tobacco, like chewing tobacco or dissolve-able packets are more likely to quit.
“We need something that works better than what we have,” said Dr. Donald Miller, an oncologist and director of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, which supports the effort along with the University of Louisville. “This is as reasonable a scientific hypothesis as anybody has come up with and it needs to be tried.”
A claim of lower risk
“Americans are largely misinformed about the relative risks. … They think smokeless tobacco is just as dangerous,” Brad Rodu, a professor of medicine at the University of Louisville said. “This level of misinformation is an enormous barrier to actually accomplishing tobacco-harm reduction because if people believe that the products have equal risk, there’s not a real incentive.”
Another option
For those looking to quit smoking, without the switching to smokeless tobacco, studies show Zyban can help. The medication does not contain nicotine, and is taken while a person begins to wean themselves off of cigarettes. Zyban can reduce some of the symptoms that typically come with quitting, like irritability, depression and restlessness. This “quit smoking” pill is available through Edrugstore’s online pharmacy.
