US survey : Most adults consider smokeless tobacco as harmful as cigarettes
“The article failed to specify that the correct answer [to the question] is: ‘Yes, smokeless tobacco products are less harmful than cigarettes.’ The article instead focuses on the majority of participants who inaccurately answered ‘No’ or ‘Don’t Know,’ which demonstrates the misperception fostered by an effective ‘quarantine’ of truthful risk information by federal agencies,” said the public health experts.
In an article on Rstreet, Professor Rodu added that several studies have indeed found that any risks from smokeless tobacco are at most, 2% those of smoking. “Unlike cigarettes, smokeless tobacco does not cause lung cancer, heart and circulatory diseases or emphysema. The Royal College of Physiciansconcluded in 2002: ‘As a way of using nicotine, the consumption of non-combustible [smokeless] tobacco is on the order of 10–1,000 times less hazardous than smoking, depending on the product.” he said.
