We all know that cigarettes are bad for you, but many still choose to smoke. Are there guidelines smokers can follow to reduce harm done (i.e. time of day, before/after exercise, before/after meals, before/after showers, warmer/cooler air)?
I’m putting together a program for a campus television station that will hopefully better educate students about smoking. For some people quitting not an appealing option, but hopefully those who continue to smoke (as they have a right to do) can take a “healthier” approach to their habit.
I have found that researching for this is very hard because there is so much propaganda out there from both sides. The pro side - usually a tobacco company - has a financial interest that limits what they say about risks. The con side - The American Lung Association, for instance - has a medical interest that limits what they’ll suggest other than quitting.
Does anyone have knowledge they can cite regarding “safer” smoking?
In “Licit and Illicit Drugs,” the editors of Consumer Reports recommended some public health measures. While these were intended to be government/industry measures, one can implement two of them on a smaller scale:
(1) Smoke cigars or a pipe instead of cigarettes, or chew tobacco: while all of these can cause oral cancer, this risk appears to be less than that of lung cancer from cigarettes. Alternatively, you could quit inhaling the smoke from cigarettes, and just rely on absorption through oral and nasal tissues.
(2) Search out cigarettes with the *highest possible/i] nicotine content: once you’re addicted, the main harm comes from the smoke, and not the nicotine. Throw out the lite cigarettes, the extra longs, and the slims, and smoke short, wide, and strong. The nicotine craving will be satisfied sooner, and you can stop smoking for hours.
The full program (and the entire text of the book) is here.
[Hijack] I used to work for a clinical research company. A VP gave a briefing about a multi-million dollar project we were working on for Philip Morris. He said to a room full of scientists, “We’re going to help them develop a safe cigarette.”
After all the laughter died down, he admitted he should have said “safer cigarette.”
[/Hijack]
Nametag, your Point (2) is a widely observed phenomonon to be sure. I’ve found that people who use the heavys, by and large, can quite easily hover at 5 a day without too much of a craving issue at all.
My only other advice would be to avoid lighting up before work, or during work. That way, the mind falls into the habit of looking forward to getting home and you cut down your overall intake that way.
I smoke cloves. I only need half a clove (sometimes none at all) a day. They’re full of nicotine! However, I’ve found that most people used to smoking cigarettes don’t like the taste of cloves!
Baloney. Clove cigarettes are mostly tobacco, and contain approximately the same amount of nicotine (maybe slightly more, as they use harsher grade tobacco). If you “need” only half a cigarette a day, you’re just not addicted to nicotine (yet).
Drink after smoking, better for the gums (all that hot air).
Do not smoke around eating time, the nicotine causes a bit of “fight or flight” syndrome that shuts down the food processing mechinery.