How can embracing smoking harm reduction accelerate an increase in smoking cessation in the population?

In this session Dr Cummings will describe plans to test whether a community intervention trial focused on smoking harm reduction can increase smoking cessation in a high-poverty, high-smoking-prevalence rural community in South Carolina. The intervention includes a multi-pronged set of activities to promote smoking cessation and switching to FDA authorized smoke-free tobacco including mass-media campaigns and events at worksites, schools, faith groups, and health care institutions.  A component of the intervention also involves asking tobacco product manufacturers to voluntarily support the smoking harm reduction intervention by expanding their marketing of FDA authorized smoke-free products in the intervention county while simultaneously agreeing to limit the promotion of smokeable tobacco products.  Many questions remain unanswered about the feasibility of the intervention such as whether public health groups are willing to partner with industry? Whether or not industry will in fact agree to voluntarily implement strategies to promote smokefree products as substitutes for cigarettes?  Will local tobacco retailers and vape shops work in support of the intervention?   How will the intervention work by restricting sales to only FDA authorized vaping products? Is there a need to assess uptake of smokefree products by non-tobacco users including teenagers?