Nicotine misunderstood

Public Health England (PHE) said yesterday that going ‘cold turkey’ was the least effective way to quit tobacco smoking.
In a note to mark No Smoking Day, PHE said that over 58 percent of smokers still tried to quit without using an aid, despite this being the least effective way.
‘A Public Health England (PHE) report highlights that public misunderstanding of the harmfulness of nicotine-containing products, such as nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and e-cigarettes, may be linked to inaccurate and confused perception of the risks of nicotine,’ the note said.
‘The risks of nicotine use are likely to be very low or negligible. NRT is safe and licenced for use in pregnancy and for people with cardiovascular disease. And there is now wide international consensus that e-cigarettes are far less harmful than smoking. It is the cocktail of deadly chemicals in cigarette smoke, including tar and carbon monoxide, which causes almost all of the harm of smoking.
‘Four in 10 smokers and ex-smokers incorrectly think that nicotine in cigarettes is the cause of most of the smoking-related cancer. Understanding of the harms of nicotine among the general population is similarly poor…’
The PHE note is at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/four-in-10-smokers-incorrectly-think-nicotine-causes-cancer.