Smoke vs. Smokeless?

The public health debate continues about the advantages and disadvantages of promoting smokeless tobacco products as a safer alternative to cigarettes. No one can deny that the smokeless tobacco market is changing and growing at a rapid pace. Check out this article about smokeless tobacco sales from a Convenience Store publication. http://www.csdecisions.com/article/6206




Note that in response to this article Bill Godshall, Executive Director of Smoke-Free Pennsylvania and outspoken 'harm reduction' advocate said "The quote attributed to Stan Glantz (in this article) is inaccurate, and the quote attributed to Timothy O'Leary at the WHO (in the second article) is deceiving. Both statements intentionally mislead the public to believe that smokefree tobacco/nicotine products are as hazardous as cigarettes, which encourages smokers to continue smoking cigarettes (instead of switching to less hazardous smokefree alternatives) and encourages smokefree users to switch to far more hazardous cigarettes. Smokers have a right to be truthfully informed about the comparable health risks of different tobacco/nicotine products, and public health agencies and professionals have an ethical duty to truthfully inform cigarette smokers about less hazardous smokefree alternatives."

That's a lot of food for thought. How do you weigh in? Research the info out there on smoking vs. smokeless tobacco and leave a comment here!