Harm Reduction 101: Clearing the Smoke with Tobacco Harm Reduction

When: April 19, 2022 2:00 PM ET
Where: Virtual

Featuring:
● [Moderator] Chelsea Boyd, Fellow, R Street Institute
● Michael Pesko, Associate Professor, Georgia State University
● Helen Redmond, Senior Editor and Multi-Media Journalist, Filter
● Pritika Kumar, Senior Fellow, R Street Institute

Everyone engages in behaviors that can harm their health, and many of us take measures to decrease those health risks—even things like wearing a seatbelt or limiting alcohol consumption count toward harm reduction. Harm reduction is the idea that abstinence-only approaches do not work well at the population level and that there are strategies available to make risky behaviors less harmful.

When it comes to tobacco, adult smokers may reduce harms associated with combustible tobacco products by switching to less dangerous nicotine delivery systems such as e-cigarettes or snus. During this panel presentation, public health experts will discuss the benefits and challenges associated with applying harm reduction approaches to tobacco control. Panelists will also discuss policies that support harm reduction for tobacco use. Specifically, panelists will address taxation, Food and Drug Administration regulations, flavor bans, health considerations and the interplay between federal, state and local tobacco control actions. Join us to find out how integrating tobacco harm reduction into public policy benefits the public’s health.