Stop Smoking Cigarettes and Switch to Heated Tobacco
The best decision any adult smoker can make is to quit tobacco and nicotine consumption entirely, although some adult smokers may not be ready to stop smoking. For these adult smokers, heated tobacco products may be an option. Adult smokers typically cannot use heated tobacco to quit smoking, but these products may be a less harmful alternative when compared to continued smoking. Why is this?
Back to Basics – Why Are Cigarettes So Harmful?
While many adult smokers believe nicotine found within cigarettes poses the biggest health risk, the truth is combustion of a cigarette causes the most harm. Decades of scientific research show that the primary cause of smoking-related disease is the high levels of Harmful and Potentially Harmful Constituents (HPHCs) in smoke formed during the combustion of tobacco. During a puff of a cigarette, the temperature increases to more than 800 °C at the tip. The combustion of tobacco results in the formation of smoke (containing high levels of HPHCs).
What is Heated Tobacco?
While it is not risk-free, heated tobacco is a less harmful alternative for adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke. This is because these products do not burn tobacco, which means: no smoke, no unpleasant lingering smells and fewer harmful chemical emissions. The absence of combustion and the favourable changes this brings is one reason why some adult smokers, who are not ready to quit smoking cigarettes, may switch to heated tobacco products.
That’s probably why searches for “heated tobacco” specifically have risen by 100% in just four years. In fact, in November 2022, there were 3,6001 searches for heated tobacco.
Don't Want to Quit Smoking? Switch to IQOS
For adult smokers who are not ready to stop smoking cigarettes but want to switch to heated tobacco, IQOS is the #1 tobacco heating system.* IQOS provides real tobacco taste and provides cigarette-like satisfaction.** Studies** showed that the satisfaction of those who switched completely to IQOS is comparable to those who continued to smoke cigarettes.
When it comes to IQOS, thousands of adult smokers around the world convert to IQOS every day.*** Here’s why:
- Tar is the residue from smoke after a cigarette is burned. IQOS does not produce tar because it heats tobacco instead of burning it. It generates an aerosol residue that is fundamentally different from tar and consists of significantly lower levels of harmful chemicals.****
- Cigarettes expose others to smoke – IQOS doesn’t. IQOS doesn’t produce smoke or second-hand smoke. It produces a tobacco vapour that contains significantly less harmful chemicals****, resulting in less impact on the air around you and others compared to cigarette smoke.
- IQOS generates no cigarette smoke smell.
- With no smoke, less smell, IQOS has significantly less effect on the air around you and others than cigarettes.
- Smokers who switched to IQOS say that their breath smells better than it did with cigarettes.
- Smokers who switched to IQOS say that there is less unpleasant feeling and aftertaste left in their mouth compared to after finishing smoking a cigarette.
- When it comes to taste, Cigarettes taste like smoke. IQOS tastes like real tobacco, without smoke. The taste you get from cigarettes is in fact the taste of the smoke released when tobacco is burnt. Because IQOS heats tobacco instead of burning it, you get the taste of real tobacco.
- IQOS emits 95% less harmful chemicals***** than cigarettes.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: The absense of tar does not mean that IQOS is risk-free. IOQS provides nicotine which is addictive.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: IQOS is not risk-free for you or others around you.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: It does not necessarily equal a 95% reduction in risk. IQOS is not risk-free.
*PMI global estimate of total In-Market Sales of Heated Tobacco Units as of April 2023. (excluding China and the US).
**3 month clinical studies conducted in US and Japan with 160 adult smokers each under real conditions (ambulatory).
***Status as of April 2023 Exclusive Heat-Not-Burn users that are using PMI HeatSticks for at least 70% of their past-7 days of heated tobacco consumption. PMI Financials or estimates, IQOS user panels and PMI Market Research.
****Average reductions in levels of a range of harmful chemicals (excluding nicotine) compared to cigarette smoke.
*****"95% less" represents the average reductions in levels of a range of harmful chemicals (excluding nicotine) compared to the smoke of a reference cigarette. See "Important information" on IQOS.com.
As with other heated tobacco products, IQOS is not a substitute for quitting smoking. IQOS is not risk-free and provides nicotine, which is addictive. IQOS is not an alternative to quitting and is not designed as a cessation aid.
Make the switch from cigarettes and shop for IQOS ORIGINALS. Choose from four vibrant colours.
Learn more about the switching journey by visiting the discovery page.
This article is for general information and educational purposes. Some of the information in this article is based on external, third-party sources (UK only) and we make no representations or warranties of any kind regarding the accuracy, validity or completeness of such information.
Methodology
All data cited reflects search volumes taken from Google Trends and SEMrush. When ‘interest’ is mentioned we are referring to ‘search interest’, the number or volume of searches for a particular term or a particular time period. Google Trends and SEMrush are publicly available and do not have restrictions on commercial use.
