Lower Tar and Nicotine Cigarettes

Filtered cigarettes with lower machine-measured yields of tar and nicotine have been recommended as offering lower disease risks. However, these cigarettes commonly use ventilation holes in the filters and other engineering designs to artificially lower the machine measurements. Smokers, however, can compensate and preserve their intake of nicotine (and tar) by changing the manner in which they puff on the cigarette or the number of cigarettes smoked per day. There is no meaningful disease-reduction benefit for smokers who switch to lower-yield cigarettes, and smokers should be discouraged from thinking of low-yield cigarettes as an alternative to cessation.

Nicotine Addiction