Why Tobacco Harm Reduction? A First Question of Many

When I first heard the words “tobacco harm reduction,” as recently as 2022, I was a little surprised. What is that? I wasn’t turned off. I just had no idea what it consisted of. Was it collecting cigarette butts from places, or passing out those old-fashioned filter tips? No one in the prisons where I’ve spent the past three decades of my life ever says that chewing is safer than smoking, or that vaping is safer than either. So I was uninformed. I had never really thought there would be a need for tobacco harm reduction (THR). Like everyone else, I thought the only reduction of harm that could be done here is quitting, and “Quit if you want to live” is not really harm reduction.