More and more cigarette smokers are now becoming more aware of the negative effects of smoking. However, lots of smokers still have different views about quitting. Most of them think that switching to light or low tar cigarettes will help them kick the butts for good. Experts suggest that smoking light cigarettes won’t make it easier for smokers to kick the habit, but instead it will even make it harder for them to quit smoking.
Below are 3 reasons why switching to light or low tar cigarettes won’t help you quit smoking.
1. You get the same addiction even you switch to low tar or light cigarettes.
Lots of smokers think that they can eventually let go of smoking if they gradually reduce their nicotine intake by smoking light cigarettes. However, no significant and physical studies will support this belief. Whether you’re smoking a regular or a low tar cigarette, one fact remains, and that is you’re still addicted to the same nicotine. If you really want to quit real, there are several nicotine replacement therapy or NRT products available in the market today to help you quit.
2. You get the same amount of nicotine and tar.
It has been long proven and clinically tested that smokers who switched to low tar or light cigarettes tend to puff deeper and smoke more light cigarettes to be able to compensate and get the same level of nicotine that their body are used to, therefore preventing any attempt of withdrawal.
Unknown to smokers, most tobacco companies or manufacturers designed low tar or light cigarettes with very tiny pinholes or “vents” on the filter. These vents dilute tobacco smoke with air when a smoker puffs the cigarette. However, most smokers are not aware of these filter vents, and without knowing it and they can’t obviously avoid it, lots of smokers block these vent holes with their lips or fingers, when this happens, the smoker get the same nicotine and tar that of the regular cigarettes.
3. You get the same health risks.
Millions of smokers who thought switching to low tar and light cigarettes can reduce the health risks caused by nicotine and other harmful compounds found in tobacco smoke. Experts from the National Cancer Institute prove otherwise. Their study suggests that the change in cigarette design had brought no single health benefit among smokers on the past decades.
Smokers are more likely to inhale the same amount of nicotine and other dangerous toxins found in tobacco smoke. One reason for this is that, smokers will end up consuming more sticks of these light cigarettes and ingest the same amount of these harmful chemicals Nicotine dependence is not addressed by light or mild cigarettes – the same addiction and nicotine cravings stays. Their body will more likely demand the same amount of nicotine, regardless if they switch or not.
Smoking light cigarettes as part of smoking cessation cigarettes has a very low to no success rate. Smokers who smoke light cigarettes to help them quit are more likely to quit their smoking cessation treatment rather than quit their smoking habit. There are several smoking cessation aids that you can use to help you quit. You can either use NRTs or smoking cessation products that mimic the effect of nicotine in your body like Champix or Zyban. However make sure that you have the necessary prescription of your physician before using any of these products.
