Harm reduction | a personal responsibility

We don’t always make the decisions we know are best, safest or most advantageous. In fact, sometimes, we do the exact opposite of that. At other times we might make tradeoffs and accept risk as part of behaviours that we would be best off avoiding altogether.

That’s where harm-reduction techniques can come into play. Rather than taking a dogmatic position that people should just choose not to do something, harm reduction accepts that some people will still choose to do things that it may be best if they didn’t. And if they’re going to do it anyway, harm reduction is about looking for ways to make the behaviour less risky than it would otherwise be.

Consider cycle helmets. Even the most careful cycling can’t cancel out risk. Weather, other vehicles, or mechanical problems can affect you no matter how cautious you are. Yet cyclists enjoy cycling, and benefit from it too. Cycling helmets allow cyclists to keep cycling, while reducing the likelihood or severity of injuries.

Similar techniques are increasingly being applied to tobacco. The best choice is never to start smoking or—for those who do smoke—to quit altogether. But given that many don’t quit, smoke-free alternatives which avoid burning and smoke are a much better choice for adults who would otherwise continue to smoke— provided they’re scientifically substantiated and manufactured with appropriate quality controls.

Why do they reduce harm? Because it is the smoke produced from burning that contains the high levels of harmful and potentially harmful chemicals associated with smoking related disease. By eliminating combustion, and therefore smoke, scientifically substantiated alternatives can significantly reduce the average levels of harmful chemicals compared to cigarettes. This does not make them risk free and they provide nicotine which is addictive. However, they offer the potential to be much better alternatives for adults who would otherwise continue to smoke.

Harm reduction techniques increasingly help us to tackle risky behaviours in ways which accommodate rather than fighting against human nature.

Learn about smoke-free alternatives: Ways to Unsmoke

Read our previous article 

This post and content is sponsored, written and produced by Phillip Morris International.