The tobacco industry spends billions of dollars on advertising and promotion to increase their customer base, and if that weren’t enough they are now developing and marketing new tobacco products such as ‘light’ cigarettes, ‘reduced risk’ cigarettes and smokeless tobacco (SNUs) to gain new customers. Through these products, the tobacco industry is trying to create the perception of a safer cigarette but they are really just putting lipstick on a pig. The industry is trying to fool the consumer into believing there is a safer cigarette to address the growing concern over the health effects of smoking.

The scary part of these marketing tactics is that many times they actually work; take the ‘light’ cigarette for example there is no scientific evidence that these cigarettes are safer but they are designed and marketed to address the health concerns of smokers. These tactics are dangerous and diminish prevention and cessation efforts of the tobacco control community because a cigarette that appears to be lower risk or safer may deter smokers from quitting, encourage non-smokers to start smoking, and entice ex-smokers to start smoking again.

As a public health professional I am concerned about the growing tobacco epidemic and want to work to dispel the myth of ‘safer’ cigarettes. Working in tobacco control we may not have the money the tobacco industry has but we have the truth. If you are looking for more information on the truth about these new tobacco products or on tobacco control you can find it at the website Global Tobacco Control: Learning from the Experts (www.globaltobaccocontrol.org). This website provides free online lectures on tobacco control presented by subject experts from around the world.