On 18 Oct 2017 I had an op-ed in the Sun newspaper chain arguing that technolgical innovation has rendered tobacco abstinence the wrong policy if we want to reduce the harms caused by tobacco use. Since the scientific evidence is eloquent that most tobacco-related harm is caused by combustion, not tobacco per se, the emerging technologies that allow people to use tobacco at greatly reduced risk are likely to produce better health outcomes than an abstinence policy honoured more in the breach than in the observance.
