In any hospital, you see what years of smoking can do to a body, and also what shame and stigma can do when someone’s trying to quit.
Yet American medical and policy communities have been frustratingly slow to embrace alternative tobacco products, like e-cigarettes, snus or snuff, nicotine pouches, or heated tobacco, as tools for smoking cessation or harm reduction. Yes, they’re not perfect. No, they’re not risk-free. However, for many lifelong smokers, they may be the most realistic way to quit cigarettes.
Most smokers aren’t proud of their habit; they’ve tried to stop more times than they can count. Quitting isn’t a one-size-fits-all fix, and when we only endorse the tools that work for some, we leave the rest behind. If we’re serious about helping more people move away from cigarettes, it’s time to expand our toolkit and update the tax code to reflect this.
Read the full story here.