# New "Fire-Safe Cigarettes" (FSCs): Better or worse? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 29, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fire-safe-cigarettes-fscs-better-or-worse/504706 "2009-07-29T21:20:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cucuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7feea3/32.png) [@cucuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cucuy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fire-safe-cigarettes-fscs-better-or-worse/504706/1 "2009-07-29T21:20:27Z")
I’m not a smoker but from what I’ve learned these are far worse than regular cigarettes. And that there are over half of the states in the US requiring they be sold over the other type is alarming. [Here’s a link](http://firesafecigarettes.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=9&URL=Home%20-%20The%20Coalition%20for%20Fire%20Safe%20Cigarettes) to an information website. And [here’s a link](http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/repeal-fire-safe-cigarette-laws) to an online petition, FWIW. Currently hand-rolled cigarettes are exempt, but the sentiment is that may soon change. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fire-safe-cigarettes-fscs-better-or-worse/504706/2 "2009-07-29T22:12:35Z")
So…could you point us in the direction of this information that says they’re far worse, or do we just have to take your (and the commenters on that petition site’s) word? Edit: That first link is clearly _pro_ fire safe cigarettes, so we’re only getting one side of the issue. All I can tell from the other site is that a lot of smokers are convinced there are other “chemicals” in these new cigarettes that must be so much worse for you than what’s already in regular cigarettes. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fire-safe-cigarettes-fscs-better-or-worse/504706/3 "2009-07-29T22:36:47Z")
Better or worse _in what respect_: 1. Health-wise? 2. Fire reduction? 3. The act of smoking? 4. Other? As of now, I can only answer 2 (better) and 3 (worse). ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fire-safe-cigarettes-fscs-better-or-worse/504706/4 "2009-07-29T23:02:37Z")
The only thing I had heard about them was that they supposedly taste worse. On the other hand, Illinois required fire-safe cigarettes starting on Jan. 1, 2008, six months before I quit the p-funks–I didn’t even know anything had changed until, like, April of that year. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fire-safe-cigarettes-fscs-better-or-worse/504706/5 "2009-07-30T02:01:26Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > All I can tell from the other site is that a lot of smokers are convinced there are other “chemicals” in these new cigarettes that must be so much worse for you than what’s already in regular cigarettes. Wouldn’t a plain tobacco cigarette be an improvement over the standard? (Especially the American standard - it always weirds me out to see those little jets of accelerant flaming away.) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fire-safe-cigarettes-fscs-better-or-worse/504706/6 "2009-07-30T02:35:06Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Wouldn’t a plain tobacco cigarette be an improvement over the standard? > > (Especially the American standard - it always weirds me out to see those little jets of accelerant flaming away.) Relax, **Larry** –your cigarettes are pure tobacco. From a [report](http://www.smoke-free.ca/pdf_1/Background-design.pdf) (warning: PDF) by Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada: > [@](#): > > Canadian cigarettes are very different from those sold in the United States and in many other countries. The U.S. cigarette is made of a combination of different types of tobaccos (burley, oriental and Virginia), which are blended with flavourings and casings. Virtually all Canadian cigarettes are manufactured from the same variety of Virginia tobacco, grown in the same five Ontario counties. This is supported by [Imperial Tobacco](http://www.imperialtobaccocanada.com/onewebca/sites/IMP_5TUJVZ.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/C17093BCC2F62AC9C1256EEC005B0016?opendocument&DTC=&SID=) (Player’s, du Maurier, Cameo, etc. for example): > [@](#): > > Most of the Canadian cigarettes do not contain additives in the tobacco. The additives that are used are in the paper or in the filter. That’s quite the contrary to what they have in the U.S. market, where up to 200 additives are used. So Canadian cigarettes are quite different… > > In Canada, adult consumer preference is for 100% Virginia flue-cured tobaccos. Looks like you’re probably smoking pure tobacco already, **Larry**. Just avoid the imported US cigarettes. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fire-safe-cigarettes-fscs-better-or-worse/504706/7 "2009-07-30T04:34:36Z")
They don’t taste any different but they don’t stay lit either. It’s very inconsistent. Sometimes, if you put a cigarette down in an ashtray, it’ll burn all the way down but they’ll sometimes go out between drags. The tobacco seems to burn faster than the paper so it smothers itself. ---
**Author:** ![cucuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7feea3/32.png) [@cucuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cucuy)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fire-safe-cigarettes-fscs-better-or-worse/504706/8 "2009-07-30T22:12:40Z")
I linked to the official website and then to an online petition— I didn’t consider that the topic might be unknown to responders. The information I read regarding _anti-FSC_ came from two blogs, and I didn’t think that would support a valid argument against FSCs. (I’ll go back and see if I can locate a link to one of those blogs.) I was looking for user-feedback (like **jasonh300** , thank you) and opinions on how the federal government is restricting the sale of cigarettes by pushing these on the public. I’ll come back to this after I find substantiated reports regarding adverse health reactions. ---
**Author:** ![cucuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7feea3/32.png) [@cucuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cucuy)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fire-safe-cigarettes-fscs-better-or-worse/504706/9 "2009-07-31T16:25:30Z")
Here are a few cites to inform anyone who’s not up on this: [Wikipedia.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_safe_cigarettes) [A YouTube video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mTXZVCOM0Y) that lists the dangers of FSCs. And [this](http://www.examiner.com/x-11705-NY-Holistic-Body--Spirit-Examiner~y2009m7d12-Are-the-new-FSC-firesafe-cigarettes-making-smokers-sicker-than-ever) is the blog where I first read about FSCs. (If any of these links are inappropriate, please request a mod to remove.) ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fire-safe-cigarettes-fscs-better-or-worse/504706/10 "2009-07-31T17:39:50Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > (Especially the American standard - it always weirds me out to see those little jets of accelerant flaming away.) I don’t understand. Please elaborate. (I’m not a smoker)