Smoke-freealternatives:
Some facts
The World Health Organization estimates there areabout 1 billion smokers in the world today—and come
2025 this number will be roughly the same.¹

The best choice any smoker can make is to quit
tobacco and nicotine altogether. But many don’t.
These adults deserve a pragmatic approach thatmoves them away from cigarettes.
Today, there are products that can help enable
such approach. The vast majority of harmful
compounds found in cigarette smoke andassociated with smoking-related diseases
are generated by combustion. Products thateliminate combustion, such as e-cigarettes,
heated tobacco products (HTPs), and oral
smokeless products, exist today.
Smoke-free products are not risk-free andcontain nicotine, which is addictive. However,provided they are scientifically substantiatedand manufactured under the appropriate safety
and quality controls, they are a better choice for
adult smokers than continued smoking.
Not all tobacco and nicotine containing products
are the same. Regulation should allow adultsmokers to have access to, as well as accurate
and non-misleading information about smokefree alternatives and how they are fundamentallydifferent to cigarettes.

Smoke-free alternatives are justthat—free of smoke
By not burning tobacco, smoke-free products
don’t create smoke. HTPs generate a nicotinecontaining aerosol by heating tobacco totemperatures sufficient to release nicotine andflavors from the tobacco, but low enough toprevent the tobacco from burning. E-cigarettes(also known as vapes, e-vapor products orelectronic nicotine delivery systems) heat aliquid solution containing nicotine and flavors
to produce an aerosol, which some call avapor—hence the term “vaping”. Oral smokelessproducts refers to tobacco (known as snus) andtobacco-free nicotine-containing, smoke-freeproducts designed for oral use.

Regulation should allow
accurate and non-misleading
information about, andaccess to, alternatives for
adult smokers who would
otherwise continue to smoke.

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Nicotine in smoke-free products

The problem with burning

Most smoke-free products contain nicotine.
The reason for this is because nicotine,
alongside taste and ritual, plays an importantrole in switching from cigarettes to smokefree products. In order to switch completely,
smokers need to find these products acceptable
substitutes for cigarettes.

In a cigarette, combustion occurs when it islit, generating smoke. The smoke formed
contains more than 6,000 chemicals, many ofwhich have been classified by public healthauthorities as causes or potential causes ofsmoking-related diseases.

Nicotine, while addictive and not risk-free,
is not the primary cause of smoking-relateddiseases. This has been recognized by many
experts and institutions. For example, theU.K. National Institute for Health and Care
Excellence has stated that “it is primarily thetoxins and carcinogens in tobacco smoke—not
the nicotine—that cause illness and death”.²

By eliminating the combustion, or burning
process—as is the case with smoke-free
products—there is no smoke and the levels ofharmful chemicals generated can be significantly
reduced compared with cigarette smoke. Of
course, whether a product reduces emissionsof harmful chemicals compared with cigarettesmoke has to be scientifically assessed on a
product-by-product basis.

Science-backed, smoke-free alternatives can complement
existing measures to help address the global health issue ofsmoking by providing an avenue for adults who don’t quit
tobacco and nicotine altogether to make a better choicethan continued smoking. Coupled with the right regulatory
encouragement and support from society, we can reach asmoke-free future, faster.

1. WHO global report on trends in prevalence of tobacco smoking 2000-2005, 2018
2. NICE Public Health Guidance: Tobacco Harm Reduction Approaches to Smoking (2013)

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