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Welcome to the Leave The Pack Behind website at Queen’s University. We are currently in our sixth successful year and still going strong.

Leave The Pack Behind is group of Queen’s students willing to help you become educated about the realities of tobacco use and its effects on your health. To learn more about us and what we do click here.

Take a look at our office hours as well as our display booth schedule and come check us out!

So you smoke light/mild cigarettes. You do it because it is better for your health, right?

WRONG!!

Health Canada conducted a Canadian tobacco use monitoring survey of 10,000 Canadians. Two of the questions the asked were:

“Do you think that light/mild cigarettes are less harmful to smokers than regular cigarettes?”

“Do you think that light/mild cigarettes are less addictive, about the same, or more addictive than regular cigarettes?”

1.5 million smokers do not believe that ‘light’ cigarettes are as harmful as regular cigarettes. (23.78% of all smokers)

Those who believe ‘light’ cigarettes are less harmful are more likely to smoke them.

800,000 smokers do not believe that ‘light’ cigarettes are as addictive as regular cigarettes.

Did the tobacco companies know the truth about light/mild cigarettes?

The answer is YES. Not only did they know the truth, they even devised plans to deceive consumers about the truth of smoking these cigarettes:

“All work in this area should be directed towards providing consumer reassurance about cigarettes and the smoking habit. This can be provided in different ways, e.g. by claiming low deliveries, by the perception of low deliveries and by the perception of ‘mildness’.” ⁽¹⁾

– British American Tobacco, 1977

What else did the tobacco industry keep confidential from the public? Click here to find out!

For more interesting facts, check out our light & mild campaign page.