The hardening hypothesis for smoking – but does the evidence point to “softening” in NZ?

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Image - The hardening hypothesis for smoking

The hardening hypothesis suggests that as smoking prevalence declines, the remaining smokers will be the more addicted ones who are less likely to quit. But does the NZ evidence support this?

This Public Health Expert blog considers these issues and explores the potential implications for achieving NZ’s Smokefree 2025 goal.

The blog is written by ASPIRE2025 co-Director, Richard Edwards. It follows a recent paper he had published in the journal Tobacco Control.

For more information please contact:

Richard Edwards
University of Otago, Wellington
email richard.edwards@otago.ac.nz