Professor John Britton, chair of the RCP’s Tobacco Advisory Group, commenting on the new draft guidance from NICE, Tobacco: harm-reduction approaches to smoking, said:
We welcome this new draft guidance from NICE, which puts into practice many of the proposals put forward by the RCP in its report on harm reduction in nicotine addiction in 2007. Smokers smoke for nicotine, and since tobacco smoke is by far the most harmful available source of nicotine, switching to non-tobacco alternatives as a short- or long-term substitute is the obvious healthier choice.
We would encourage all smokers to take up the opportunities presented by this guidance, and if they can’t quit using nicotine altogether, to switch as much as they can to an alternative non-tobacco nicotine product. This guidance has the potential to change millions of lives for the better. We commend it.’
Download the 2007 RCP report Harm reduction in nicotine addiction