2009-01-28 16:20:19 - Thirty-eight states have passed legislation prohibiting the sale of ordinary cigarettes, and permitting the sale only of cigarettes which self extinguish if not puffed on, and this will both prevent fires and help many smokers to quit, says Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), a national antismoking organization.

Although designed to eliminate the major cause of residential fire deaths in the U.S., an additional bonus for public health is that the cigarettes are providing two additional incentives for the great majority of smokers who already want to quit to finally do so.

According to reports, many smokers find the new cigarettes more difficult and annoying to smoke because they will automatically self extinguish -- like cigars and pipes -- if not puffed on frequently, often to the sudden surprise and annoyance of the cigarette smoker.

A basic principle of helping people quit -- whether its smoking or overeating -- is to make the activity more difficult, suggests public interest law professor John Banzhaf, Executive Director of ASH.

Also, many smokers

are displeased with the taste of the cigarettes, some going so far as to complain that they "taste like crap." Bad taste will surely deter many smokers, especially since they will no longer be able to buy traditional "good tasting" cigarettes in their home state, predicts Banzhaf.

As of the first of the year, new laws mandating fire-safe cigarettes went into effect. The number will jump from the current count of 18 to 32 states by the end of 2009, with additional laws becoming effective in 2010. The cigarettes are also known as reduced-ignition-propensity or RIP cigarettes.

"Cigarettes are the major cause of residential fire deaths -- a category which includes not only homes but also apartments, dormitories, rest homes, etc. -- so legislation to eliminate thousands of needless deaths and even more suffering from severe burns is long overdue," says Banzhaf.

Smokers have no right to impose this danger on other members of their families, much less on innocent third parties in adjoining rooms, so they can hardly complain of minor inconvenience of it is necessary to end this major threat to public safety.

JOHN F. BANZHAF III
Executive Director and Chief Counsel
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
2013 H St., NW
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 659-4310 // ash.org/