National New Year's Resolution Stop Smoking

Dr Haikerwal said that to quit smoking is a worthy and achievable New Year's resolution for all smokers to make tomorrow. Smokers, their families and all around them will benefit.

"Smoking rates have been in decline over the past few decades but tobacco smoking is still responsible for the greatest burden on the health of all Australians," Dr Haikerwal said.

"Around 18 000 Australians die every year from illnesses and conditions linked to tobacco smoking. Thousands more have smoking related illness and disability.

"That is a significant and senseless waste of life and quality of life that could be avoided.

"As a nation we have to get tougher on smoking, and that means getting tougher on the tobacco companies.

"Tobacco companies over the years have sought to reassure smokers that cigarettes were getting safer through the development of cigarettes that supposedly delivered even lower amounts of tar and nicotine, which they called 'lights' and 'milds'.

"Smokers have been conned. The community has been duped.

"There is no such thing as a safe cigarette.

"The only way for smokers to avoid lung disease and lung cancer is to give up the cigarettes for good immediately. This will have immediate benefits with normality resuming within seven years of quitting.

"There is no such thing as 'safe low tar tobacco'.

"Low tar cigarettes are designed with special filters that retain tar and nicotine as smoke is drawn through the filter.

"They also have ventilation holes that allow air to be drawn in to mix with and dilute the smoke.

"These products are marketed as being low in tar due to yields measured by a machine under controlled conditions.

"But smokers in the real world do not smoke cigarettes in the same way that machines do.

"Consumers modify their smoking behaviour to ensure they inhale enough smoke to achieve a satisfactory nicotine 'hit' by sucking longer, deeper, and more often.

"The great shame is that the tobacco industry has known for many years that low tar cigarettes offer consumers false reassurance."

A Philip Morris document from 1975 reveals that:

…the smoker profile data reported earlier indicated that Marlboro Lights cigarettes were not smoked like regular Marlboros. There were differences in the size and frequency of the puffs, with larger volumes taken on Marlboro Lights by both regular Marlboro smokers and Marlboro Lights smokers. In effect, the Marlboro 85 smokers in this study did not achieve any reduction in the smoke intake by smoking a cigarette (Marlboro Lights) normally considered lower in delivery.

This means that the actual tar exposure, and hence the health risk, from smoking low tar brands may be almost the same as for conventional cigarettes.

In Europe, the use of the terms mild and light is banned in cigarette marketing. In Australia, the tobacco companies have had an easier time of it. Litigation is harder here and regulation of the tobacco companies is less onerous.

In spite of concerted lobbying by organisations such as the Australian Medical Association, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and the Cancer Council of Australia, the Federal Government has not moved to legislate against this marketing tactic.

Dr Haikerwal said the AMA wants to encourage greater community pressure on all Governments to get tougher on smoking and for the introduction of new and more aggressive education campaigns to stop people, especially young people, taking up the killer habit.

"We've now had 15 years invisibility of cigarette ads in print media; we must now follow up with a 'no display' policy in retail outlets for a start," Dr Haikerwal said.

"The Federal Government should show leadership on this issue by mounting a public health awareness campaign against the dangers of light and mild cigarettes.

"In Canada, following a public health campaign alerting the public to the dangers of light cigarettes, the percentage of people who believe they are safe fell to 17 percent. That figure is still dangerously high at about 30 per cent in Australia.

"For some inexplicable reason, anti-smoking campaigns in Australia are a low priority. With all the policies and money being thrown around during this year's Federal election, anti-smoking initiatives barely rated a mention.

"Australian governments spend only $2 million a year in anti-smoking campaigns overall. This is low by OECD standards. Meanwhile, the Government happily reaps a $5 billion annual bounty in tobacco excises and duties.

"The priorities are all wrong. It is time we put the health and quality of life of Australians ahead of ill-gained revenues from the peddlers of death," Dr Haikerwal said.