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Is cutting down enough?

Written by
SmokeLess Team
Updated
Reading time
5 minutes
Sources
3 primary sources

Short answer

Smoking fewer cigarettes a day is a step, but research shows it does not deliver most of the benefit that stopping does. People who go from twenty a day to ten tend to draw more deeply and hold the smoke longer, so intake does not fall in proportion to the count.

Key points

  • Cutting the count is not a substitute for stopping.
  • People who cut down tend to draw more deeply to compensate.
  • For the people you live with, less smoke is still smoke.
  • Official guidance recommends picking a date and stopping completely.

What the research shows

Cutting down sounds reasonable: fewer cigarettes, less harm. The body does not do simple division.

People who go from twenty a day to ten usually change how they smoke without noticing. They draw more deeply, hold the smoke longer, and smoke more of each cigarette. Intake does not fall in proportion to the number on paper.

This is why official guidance describes cutting down as a preparation step rather than a destination.

For the people around you

Here the arithmetic is even simpler. Less smoke is still smoke.

WHO states there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. One cigarette in a room still leaves smoke hanging and residue in the curtains, the chairs and the clothes.

For the people you live with, the only difference that means anything is between smoke and no smoke.

Cutting down has its place

During preparation, ahead of a chosen quit date, cutting down helps some people get used to the idea and identify which moments are hardest.

The problem appears when reducing becomes the long-term plan. At that point it usually turns into a way of postponing.

The next step

Pick a specific date within the next two weeks and stop completely from that day. The quitline is 1800 6606, free, 08:00 to 22:00 daily.

Common questions

So is cutting down pointless?
Not pointless. Cutting down during preparation, before a chosen quit date, helps some people. The problem is when reducing becomes the destination rather than a step, because on its own it does not deliver most of the benefit of stopping.
Is one or two a day acceptable?
WHO states there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. For the people you live with, one cigarette in the room still produces smoke and still leaves residue behind.

Sources for this article