Royal College of Physicians, ‘Nicotine without smoke Tobacco harm reduction A report by the Tobacco Advisory Group of the Royal College of Physicians,’ 2016
- The report assesses the use of harm reduction in tobacco smoking.
- It found that the use of nicotine pouches in Sweden demonstrates that a substantial proportion of smokers will switch to low risk, affordable alternatives if they’re made available.
- Particularly among men, the availability of nicotine pouches as a substitute for smoking has helped to reduce smoking rates in Europe which are now by far the lowest in Europe.
Key findings:
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- It’s estimated that over 10 years (1995-2005), nicotine pouches helped to reduce smoking rates in Sweden by an additional 3.7 percentage points.
- The evidence from Sweden suggests that harm reduction products could help to reduce smoking rates by an extra 0.4% per year.
- “The evidence from Sweden suggests that the harm reduction could add a further 0.4 percentage points per year to the rate of decline in smoking prevalence and hence make a substantial contribution to public health.”
