SMOKING kills. Everyone knows it, including smokers.
Although there are around 1.1 billion smokers in the world (about one-third of the global population aged 15 and over) there are unfortunately a great many that believe that they are ‘healthier’ smokers than others. Crazy as it may sound, they have been duped by the tobacco industry into believing they have less chance of developing smoking related life-threatening diseases.
Low tar cigarettes are one of the big cons of the tobacco industry. People naturally assume that brands labelled “light” or “mild” are somehow better for them than ordinary cigarettes.
In truth, however, low tar cigarettes contain the same amount and the same type of tobacco as ordinary cigarettes. The only difference is the number of air holes in the filter. The amount of tar that is let through the filter is measured using a machine, not a real person. The machine does not mimic how people smoke in real life. In real life, you inhale about the same amount of tar smoking low tar cigarettes as you do smoking ordinary brands. This is because smokers compensate for the holes in the filters by inhaling more deeply, or right down to the filter instead of leaving any at the end, and even holding the cigarette in a certain way in the hand or mouth to get more nicotine. Most people do this without even noticing. In fact there is also evidence to suggest that that ‘light’ cigarettes increase the risk of lung adenocarcinoma, possibly because of deeper inhalation.
A recent study, published in the journal Preventive Medicine, showed smokers buy so called light or mild cigarettes because they mistakenly believe that they are safer than ordinary brands. During the research, questionnaires on smoking were sent to a random sample of 2,000 people aged 18-70 in Geneva, Switzerland. They found that most participants believed that the amount of nicotine inhaled from one ordinary cigarette was equivalent to two light cigarettes or four ultra-light cigarettes. Twenty-seven per cent thought the risk of lung cancer was lower for smokers of light cigarettes than for those who smoked ordinary cigarettes, and nearly half thought that the numbers on the side of cigarette packs related to the actual amount of nicotine and tar in the cigarette, rather than how much was registered in tests using a smoking machine.
With this in mind, the European Union has decided to ban “light” and “mild” labels in member states and the directive takes effect at the end of the month. Meanwhile, new rules on the composition of nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide in cigarettes are applicable starting January 1 next year. The laws will apply to Cyprus when the island joins the EU in May. Naturally the measures have been hailed as a turning point by anti-smoking campaigners.
Are Cypriot smokers any different to the Swiss sample? They aren’t, according to a straw poll in Nicosia this week. Only two out of eight respondents said smoking was bad for you, irrespective of how ‘light’ the cigarette was.
“They must be slightly healthier,” said 80-year-old Giorgios Papadopoulos. “It says they’re lighter on the packet and so there must be less chance for getting lung cancer.”
Although a non-smoker, 41-year-old Pantelitsa Ioannou added: “They are called lights, so they must be lighter, which probably means they’re less bad for you.”
Menelaos Petrou, however, was slightly more savvy to the tobacco industry’s marketing ploy.
“They say they’re lighter on the packet, but can you be sure? I’m sure they put something else which is harmful into them to make them lighter,” he said. However, although the 23-year-old smoker ‘knew’ there was less nicotine and tar in “lights” and that they were less addictive, he did not know that the figures printed on the side of cigarette packs were not related to the actual amount of nicotine and tar in the cigarette, but how much was registered in tests using a smoking machine.
Nevertheless “ultra mild” cigarettes must be lighter because you felt like you were “smoking air”, Petrou said.
Sixty-three-year-old Antonis Christofi agreed with Petrou, but said the problem with “light” cigarettes was that you ended up smoking more of them because they weren’t as strong or “heavy” as regular cigarettes.
“They might be slightly healthier, but they’re still a problem at the end of the day,” he said. “They are still bad for your health because they’re more addictive and you need to smoke more of them to satisfy the need for a single normal cigarette.” For instance, he wrongly believed one Marlboro red was the equivalent of four Silk Cut ultra mild.
As for going by the tar and nicotine figures on the side of the packet, Christofi said: “You can’t know what tar or nicotine levels are in the cigarettes. I’d like to believe they’re regulated, but you just never know, do you?”
Some people don’t even look at the tar and nicotine levels; they just go by the feeling of smoke filling their lungs. Eleni Zeniou, 57, said: “I just smoke and don’t check how strong they are. Personally, I smoke lights because they’re nicer and I can smoke more of them. And I think they probably are lighter, because it says so on the packet doesn’t it? It’s the same with sugar free drinks. If they say there’s no sugar, then you’ve got to trust that they haven’t added any sugar.”
“Cigarettes are just bad for you plain and simple,” said 65-year-old Giorgios Dinglis. “If you smoke lights, you smoke more of them because they’re lighter and so it’s the same thing as smoking regular cigarettes. However, if you smoke three regular cigarettes a day and three ultra mild cigarettes a day, the latter is much healthier,” he said, adding: “Besides, regular cigarette smokers have a greater chance of getting cancer because they’re inhaling more tar and nicotine.”
Only 39-year-old Andreas Michael and 51-year-old Costas Panayis refused to be duped by the tobacco industry.
“When you smoke, you smoke. Both types of cigarettes are really bad. It’s the same shit,” said Michael.
Panayis, a heavy smoker, agrees. “Whatever the tar or nicotine levels printed, they’re just as addictive and equally bad for you health. Regular, lights, or ultra mild, they’ll all kill you.”
