New Ways to ‘Snuff’ The Smoking Habit
Wednesday, June 13th, 2007A New Way to ‘Snuff’ The Smoking Habit
(NewsUSA) - Some people, in their attempt to quit smoking,
turn to smokeless tobacco, also called snuff. But many public health experts warn that this simply
trades one unhealthy habit for another.
Smokeless tobacco has some of the same risks as tobacco cigarettes. Like cigarettes, snuff
contains nicotine as well as many cancer-causing substances, and raises a person’s risk of oral
cancer. It also can raise blood pressure and pulse rates and constrict the blood vessels, thus
contributing to cardiovascular diseases.
In 1986, the Surgeon General said the use of smokeless tobacco is ‘not a safe
substitute for smoking cigarettes.’ Further, the National Cancer Institute recommends that the
public ‘avoid and discontinue the use of all tobacco products.’
One company, Bravo Smokes, has come up with an alternative solution by eliminating
tobacco altogether and using a safer raw material: lettuce leaves. By getting rid of the nicotine,
this smoke is designed to eliminate addiction. That is the avenue of research that pharmaceutical
chemist Puzant Torigian, a Columbia University graduate, decided to take some years ago.
Called Bravo, his tobacco-free ’smoke’ was found in clinical studies to be far less harmful
than tobacco smoking. The results of the product’s clinical trials are posted on the company’s Web
site, www.bravosmokes.com/global.
Bravo smokes have all of the characteristics of tobacco cigarettes, with three key
differences: no nicotine, no tobacco and few carcinogens.
‘You lose your addiction to nicotine as you give up the habit altogether. You
simply smoke your way out of the habit, the way you smoked your way into it,’ says Torigian. He
says that as the nicotine leaves your system, usually within three days, the urge to smoke leaves
with it.
Quitting smoking can be a real challenge, and short of going ‘cold turkey,’ Bravo is one
means to kicking the habit altogether. Due to limited production, Bravo smokes are only available
online. The company’s Web site offers kits for light or heavy smokers, as well as daily shipping
via priority mail.
For more information, visit www.bravosmokes.com/global.