They urged the industry, government and independent researchers to do more studies to show whether the products reduce the toxins that smokers take in - or encourage people to smoke more because it seems less dangerous. They also recommended legislation that would tighten federal regulation of all tobacco products. Bondurant and colleagues appointed by the Institute of Medicine, one of the National Academies of Sciences, were asked by the Food and Drug Administration to look at the claims of such products in 1999. They conclude that it is hard to say whether they work. You should not be using any tobacco product.
Several studies suggest that low-tar or light cigarettes are no such thing.
When they go to low-nicotine cigarettes, they suck harder and they smoke more. We know that people are overcompensating. The researchers said they were worried that some people may get the idea that there are safe cigarettes. Shields said this panel did not want to mislead anyone. The IOM committee also looked at products designed to help smokers quit, such as nicotine patches, inhalers and nasal sprays, drugs such as antidepressants and medicines that interfere with the effects of nicotine.