An industrial cigarette, a hand-rolled, a shisha, a joint, an e-cigarette, an IQOS, a snus pouch, a cigar: these are seven different products with seven very different risk profiles. And yet, they often get lumped together.
This category sorts each type of product out for you: composition, level of risk, addictive potential, context of use, recent scientific position. You will see why hand-rolled tobacco is more toxic than industrial cigarettes, why the shisha is not as « mild » as people claim, where research stands on IQOS and heated tobacco, what vaping can really bring you to help quit, and why disposable puffs ended up banned in 2025.
The goal: to give you the real cards to choose or to quit, without simplifications and without militant alarmism.
Articles in this category
- Pillar E-cigarette: ally for quitting smoking or new trap? Aria's position explained Is vaping a good idea to quit smoking? Aria's nuanced position, with the 2025 Cochrane evidence, the UK vs France divide, and the traps to avoid.
- Hand-rolled vs factory-made cigarettes: why rolling tobacco is more toxic than you think 'At least I know what I put in it.' Wrong. Rolling tobacco contains as many additives as factory cigarettes and often delivers more tar.
- Joints and cannabis smoked with tobacco: separating the risks of cannabis from those of tobacco When you smoke a spliff with tobacco, what hurts you most? We separate the effects of cannabis, of tobacco and of mixing the two.
- Cigars and cigarillos: why not inhaling does not mean it is harmless for your health You do not inhale cigar smoke? That changes nothing: nicotine and carcinogens are absorbed by the mouth. Risk of head-and-neck cancers multiplied.
- Pipe and tobacco: lesser-known but real health risks, even without inhalation The pipe smoker has a quiet, contemplative image — but the medical reality is less glamorous: head-and-neck cancers, dependence, dental damage.
- Shisha and hookah: the 'less harmful' myth and the real carbon monoxide load One shisha session delivers 25 times more tar and 10 times more carbon monoxide than a cigarette. Water filters nothing. Here is the science.
- Snus and nicotine pouches: harm reduction, the Scandinavian context and EU legislation Sweden has 44% fewer tobacco-related deaths thanks to snus. But snus is not harmless. The truth about oral products and the new pouches.
- Heated tobacco (IQOS, glo, Ploom): level of risk and current state of scientific knowledge IQOS, glo, Ploom: these products heat tobacco without burning it. Less toxic than cigarettes? The science is more cautious than the manufacturers.
- Disposable vapes (puffs): 2025 ban, environmental impact and risks for young users Disposable vapes have been banned in the UK since June 2025 and in France since February 2025. A teen-marketing stunt and an environmental disaster.