相較於持續吸煙,可成功減害的無煙產品必須具有更低的風險,同時令目前的成年吸煙者願意將其當作替代品而全面改用。 除了口味及其他感官方面外,提供相當於香煙的尼古丁攝取量,也是讓成年吸煙者接受無煙產品的重要因素。
無煙產品含有尼古丁,那它們仍具有風險嗎?
含有煙草與/或尼古丁的產品並非全無風險的。 未成年人、孕婦或哺乳期婦女,以及任何有心臟相關疾病、高血壓或糖尿病症狀者,皆不應使用煙草或含尼古丁的產品。 未成年人尤其不應取得煙草或含尼古丁的產品。
舉例來說,美國公共衛生總署署長於 2014 年發表的報告中提及,若干動物研究均顯示青少年若攝入尼古丁將損害認知發展1。
不過不少獨立研究亦顯示,尼古丁雖然並非毫無風險,但也並非引發吸煙相關疾病的主要原因2。
吸煙所造成的大多數有害影響,皆來自於燃燒煙草時所形成的化學物質。
故無煙產品的宗旨便是透過消除燃燒過程,顯著地降低有害化合物(又被稱為有害及可能有害的成分,或 HPHCs)的含量。
除了降低或消除 HPHCs外,我們的目標也包含提供相當於吸煙的品味體驗與尼古丁含量,確保可能會持續吸煙的成年吸煙者能全面改用無煙替代品。
「尼古丁本身並非特別有害,只要尼古丁以能被接受的形式提供,作為有效的香煙替代品,就有望拯救數百萬人的性命。」
― Read the report of the Tobacco Advisory Group
[1] The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General
[2] Read the report of the Surgeon General.
Read the report of the Tobacco Advisory Group
Nicotine Addiction in Britain: A Report of the Tobacco Advisory Group of the Royal College of Physicians. Royal College of Physicians of London, 2000
The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (US) Office on Smoking and Health. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US) 2014
Read the report of the Surgeon General.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease—The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease: A Report of the Surgeon General, Atlanta (GA): U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health (2010).