Working Together for the Greater Health of the Tennessee Public
Each of us smoked for many years but failed at quitting through countless attempts following our doctor’s advice to use NRT (Nicotine Replacement Therapy), cold turkey, hypnosis, and many other alternative methods. None of us expected personal vaporizers (electronic cigarettes) to work but for each of us, it did with incredible results.
Our Approach to THR
Our approach to Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) is based on a strong commitment to public health and basic human rights.
Tobacco Harm Reduction refers to policies and practices that target the reduction of adverse health and social consequences of the legal use of tobacco. Tobacco Harm Reduction benefits all current users of tobacco products including their families, friends, and the wider Tennessee community.
Tobacco Harm Reduction is a complementary approach seeking to prevent or reduce the overall harm caused by smoking tobacco products.
We base our approach on the recognition that many people throughout the state continue to smoke tobacco despite the strongest efforts by our health agencies to prevent the continued use of smoked tobacco products. Tobacco Harm Reduction takes a unique approach to educating the public and users of smoked tobacco on ‘Switch and Quit’ methods of using reduced-harm tobacco products.
Keeping people who use smoked tobacco healthy and alive while preventing irreparable damage caused by smoking is regarded as our most urgent priority.
Abstinence is nearly impossible to achieve using traditional methods and fails 7 out of 10 times.
Access to reduced-harm tobacco products is critically important to smokers who may be unable or unwilling to quit. There is a dire need in Tennessee to provide our residents who smoke with effective and real options to help minimize risks from continued use of smoked tobacco products.
Our government and public health agencies must embrace reduced-harm tobacco products and provide education, services, and other intervention options to help keep our Tennessee public healthy and safe.
Allowing our residents to suffer or die from preventable causes is no longer an option. Only by embracing all aspects of THR will we see a dramatically improved quality of life for all Tennessee smokers, their families, and friends.
The TSFA is nonjudgmental and will fight for the rights of all Tennessee residents and vapor shops wishing to reduce the harm resulting from smoked tobacco usage.
Users of smoked tobacco are someone’s mother, father, brother or sister, friend or coworker. These users do not give up their basic human rights simply because they have chosen to smoke.
Ignoring science and technology due to opposing morals and beliefs deliberately inflicts harm on people who smoke tobacco products. This approach creates and exacerbates risk and harm for the users.
