Vapeboss – Quoting from The Guardian, Global Forum on Nicotine (GFN) Director Gerry Stimson explained that currently, around 98 million people worldwide are switching to alternative tobacco products that are considered safer than cigarettes.

"Even in Japan, cigarette sales have fallen by a third since alternative tobacco products came to the market. Manufacturers must now ensure that safer alternatives are affordable to consumers in LMIC (low and middle-income countries), not just consumers in high-income countries," he said.

A report from The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (GSTHR) titled "No fire, No smoke: The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction 2018" shows that the consumption of alternative tobacco products has been able to reduce conventional cigarette consumption.

Research by Public Health England (2015) also states that alternative tobacco products reportedly have a 95 percent lower risk compared to conventional cigarettes.

The report highlights the success stories of several countries. In Japan, between 2017-2019, heated tobacco products successfully reduced the number of smokers by 27 percent. Meanwhile, in Sweden, the use of "snus" has also reduced the incidence of dangerous smoking-related diseases, making it the lowest in the European Union.

A study titled "Snus Cessation Patterns - a Long Term Follow Up of Snus Users in Sweden" in 2020 concluded that 80 percent of respondents successfully quit conventional smoking with this method. In Norway, snus use has also reportedly reduced the number of smokers by up to 10 percent between 2008 and 2017.

Chairman of the Indonesian Vaper Alliance (AVI), Johan Sumantri, said that the use of alternative tobacco products is not just a trend or a seasonal phenomenon. Moreover, the public is increasingly aware of the health risks of smoking.

“Many adult smokers switch to alternative tobacco products because they understand that the risks are lower than cigarettes,” said Johan.

This low-risk profile is because the consumption process is not combusted like with cigarettes. Some alternative tobacco products, such as heated tobacco products and e-cigarettes, use a heating system, which can reduce risks by 90-95 percent compared to cigarettes.

These findings are also supported by a number of scientific studies conducted both domestically and abroad, including the scientific review by Public Health England (now known as the UK Health Security Agency), a division within the Department of Health and Social Care in the UK, in 2018 with the title "Evidence Review of E-Cigarettes and Heated Tobacco Products 2018."

Therefore, alternative tobacco products can be an option for adult smokers to switch to lower-risk tobacco products.

“Scientific studies on alternative tobacco products are important to promote so that the public becomes more aware of their risk profiles and benefits. This will be very useful, especially for adult smokers who choose to continue using tobacco or nicotine products,” he concluded.

Source: Okezone