Title |
Deconstructing anti-harm-reduction metaphors; mortality risk from falls and other traumatic injuries compared to smokeless tobacco use
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Published in |
Harm Reduction Journal, April 2006
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DOI | 10.1186/1477-7517-3-15 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Carl V Phillips, Brian Guenzel, Paul Bergen |
Abstract |
Anti-harm-reduction advocates sometimes resort to pseudo-analogies to ridicule harm reduction. Those opposed to the use of smokeless tobacco as an alternative to smoking sometimes suggest that the substitution would be like jumping from a 3 story building rather than 10 story, or like shooting yourself in the foot rather than the head. These metaphors are grossly inappropriate for several reasons, notably including the fact that they are misleading about the actual risk levels. Based on the available literature on mortality from falls, we estimate that smoking presents a mortality risk similar to a fall of about 4 stories, while mortality risk from smokeless tobacco is no worse than that from an almost certainly non-fatal fall from less than 2 stories. Other metaphors are similarly misleading. These metaphors, like other false and misleading anti-harm-reduction statements are inherently unethical attempts to prevent people from learning accurate health information. Moreover, they implicitly provide bad advice about health behavior priorities and are intended to persuade people to stick with a behavior that is more dangerous than an available alternative. Finally, the metaphors exhibit a flippant tone that seems inappropriate for a serious discussion of health science. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 9 | 17% |
United Kingdom | 5 | 10% |
Australia | 4 | 8% |
Canada | 4 | 8% |
Germany | 2 | 4% |
Finland | 2 | 4% |
Netherlands | 1 | 2% |
Comoros | 1 | 2% |
New Zealand | 1 | 2% |
Other | 4 | 8% |
Unknown | 19 | 37% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 45 | 87% |
Scientists | 3 | 6% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 3 | 6% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 2% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Germany | 1 | 8% |
Unknown | 11 | 92% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Other | 2 | 17% |
Student > Bachelor | 2 | 17% |
Researcher | 2 | 17% |
Professor | 1 | 8% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 1 | 8% |
Other | 2 | 17% |
Unknown | 2 | 17% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Medicine and Dentistry | 3 | 25% |
Environmental Science | 2 | 17% |
Social Sciences | 2 | 17% |
Computer Science | 1 | 8% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 1 | 8% |
Other | 1 | 8% |
Unknown | 2 | 17% |