“According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, smokeless tobacco is just as harmful as smoking…”
This egregiously false claim appeared in a June 8 Air Force Times article by Phillip
Swarts (here).
A mountain of scientific evidence amassed over two decades
attests that smokeless tobacco use is at least 98% safer than smoking (here and here). Further, while the CDC has been less than
forthright in characterizing relative tobacco risks (here),
the agency has never asserted that smokeless products are as dangerous as
cigarettes.
I emailed Mr. Swarts, requesting a correction: “The CDC has
never made such a claim in a public forum.
Please let me know if you have the CDC on record with such a claim.”
The reporter’s response, void of fact checking, repeats a
common misconception, to wit: “A quick Google search will turn up several such
statements from the CDC, Mayo Clinic, American Cancer Society, and other health
experts.” He is wrong, again.
Seven years ago, I wrote, “Our armed forces put their lives
on the line every day; they use tobacco to help manage the resulting stress…It's
time for DOD and other agencies to stop the misinformation campaign about
tobacco. Show soldiers respect by giving them truthful information about
smoking and smokeless tobacco use.” (here)
Instead, military spokespeople continue to issue
ill-informed and misleading pronouncements. Typical is Air Force Colonel John
Oh’s 2015 remark (here):
“If the Air Force was a state, we would have the second lowest smoking
prevalence in the nation — that's the good news. But we would also have the fourth highest
smokeless tobacco use.”
Second lowest and fourth highest: Colonel Oh was
complaining, but he should have been bragging.
His rankings are proof that, despite the government’s wrongheaded campaign
against smokeless tobacco and the Air
Force Times’ sloppy reporting, airmen and women are doing right by using
far safer smoke-free products rather than smoking.
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