Tobacco Smoking: Harm Reduction Strategies - An ERS Research Seminar

Harm reduction REPORT
To look into the possibilities of harm reduction, the ERS organised a research seminar on October 3 and 4, 2005. Presentations to the meeting covered a range of topics, including the basic mechanisms of nicotine dependence, the toxicity of smoked and nonsmoked tobacco and pure nicotine-containing products, and the policy aspects of various harm reduction approaches.

The meeting was conceived and planned by Yves Martinet (chair of the Smoking Prevention Committee), Karl Fagerström and Fiona Godfrey.
The main outcome of the meeting was that the ERS needs to follow harm reduction science carefully and work towards a regulatory system that encompasses all nicotine-containing products. The opportunities presented for substantial harm reduction by the wider application of medicinal nicotine products, or more controversially by smokeless tobacco, are of such potential benefit to patients with respiratory disease that they should not be ignored.

To order a paper copy of the report, please contact: ersinfo.brussels@ersnet.org