Intention to stop smoking among Norwegian smokers: the role of nicotine dependence, type of cigarettes, and age at onset of daily smoking.

This study is a report on the data of psychological nicotine dependence among Norwegian daily smokers. Nicotine dependence was higher among smokers smoking hand-rolled cigarettes than smokers smoking manufactured cigarettes in spite of the fact that the average number of cigarettes smoked per day was the same for both groups. The dependence also increased as the starting age of daily smoking decreased. Nicotine dependence was higher among daily smokers of low education compared to smokers of higher education. This was explained by a difference in the proportion of smokers of hand-rolled cigarettes in the two groups. The data are discussed in light of Norwegian research showing that hand-rolled cigarettes can contain two to three times as much nicotine and tar as manufactured cigarettes. The differences in dependence levels among smokers of hand-rolled and manufactured cigarettes suggest that the smokers are also exposed to different amounts of other harmful substances present in tobacco. Moreover, smokers of hand-rolled cigarettes were less motivated to quit, which implies that these smokers are exposed to greater health damage compared to smokers of manufactured cigarettes. These findings are discussed with regard to Norwegian taxing policy, which appears to encourage the consumer to smoke the more harmful product. Furthermore, the research findings are discussed in light of the fact that Norway has neither set a maximum limit of poisonous substances in rolling tobacco nor required that packs of rolling tobacco be labeled with a declaration of contents.