The executive director of the National Center for Health Promotion issued a warning against smokeless cigarettes Tuesday, saying the smoking alternative is as dangerous as low-tar cigarettes. ``Anyone who suggests that smokeless cigarettes are a healthy smoking option is perpetrating a cruel fraud on the American public,'' Michael Samuelson said. Smokeless cigarettes recently were introduced by RJR Nabisco Inc. The Ann Arbor-based center said many smokers may try the cigarettes as a way to quit smoking, but Samuelson said people who use smokeless cigarettes continue their physical and psychological addiction to nicotine. Samuelson also warned that non-smokers who inhale carbon monoxide produced by smokeless cigarettes also endanger their health.
