Nicotine Science and Policy
By Harry Shapiro July 10, 2026
Harry’s Blog 132: “Zyn! Went The Strings Of My Heart” (with apologies to Judy Garland)
FDA approval of 20 nicotine pouch products is another step forward for tobacco harm reduction
The FDA in the U.S. has granted marketing authorisation for Zyn nicotine pouch products (five variations on mint plus five other flavours in two different strengths).
In its letter to PMI (who own Zyn manufacturers Swedish Match), the FDA wrote:
Based on our review of your MRTPAs [Modified Risk Tobacco Applications] we determined that the proposed modified risk tobacco products, …as actually used by consumers would significantly reduce harm and the risk of tobacco-related disease to individual tobacco users and benefit the health of the population as a whole, taking into account both users of tobacco products and persons who do not currently use tobacco products. Therefore, we authorize marketing of the tobacco products as modified risk tobacco products with the following modified risk information – “Using ZYN instead of cigarettes puts you at a lower risk of mouth cancer, heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, emphysema and chronic bronchitis”.
July 17, 2026 by gfn.tv
PROHIBITION: WHAT LIES BENEATH? | THR Unfiltered
Prohibition often looks clean on the surface: ban the product, remove the problem. Beneath it sits a messier reality — demand, dependence, informal supply and people pushed further from safer choices. In tobacco and nicotine policy, bans can make harm harder to see rather than easier to reduce. The question is not whether prohibition sounds strong, but what it leaves behind when the headlines fade.
July 17, 2026 by substack.com
Fact Sheet: Arguments against "Youth Epidemic" Claims
Youth protection is essential, but it should not be used as a blanket argument against harm reduction for adults. Policies aimed at preventing underage use need to be judged by evidence, not assumptions about what sounds protective. If restrictions make safer nicotine products harder for adult smokers to access, they may create new harms while doing little to address the real drivers of youth use. Good policy can protect young people without closing the door on adults trying to leave cigarettes behind.
July 17, 2026 by planetofthevapes.co.uk
ASH Scotland Attacks Vapes
Attacking vaping may win headlines, but it can lose sight of the smoker. If public health messaging makes lower-risk products look as dangerous as cigarettes, the person most likely to be harmed is the adult who never switches. Vapes are not risk-free and should be regulated responsibly, especially around youth access. But turning them into a villain can leave the deadliest product looking like the familiar one.
11.80% of the adult population are current smokers. There are approximately 6.7 million current smokers in United Kingdom 13.60% of men are current smokers but only 10.10% of women.
SOURCE: GSTHR
July 17, 2026 by realclearhealth.com
It’s Time for a More Honest Tobacco Policy
Honest tobacco policy begins with admitting that cigarettes are not dangerous because they contain nicotine, but because they burn. Once that distinction is blurred, everything else becomes distorted: risk communication, regulation and the choices offered to smokers. Adults deserve clear information about lower-risk alternatives, not a public health message that treats all nicotine use as the same. If policy is serious about reducing disease, it must be honest about where the harm comes from.
14.10% of the adult population are current smokers. There are approximately 39.8 million current smokers in United States 17.10% of men are current smokers but only 11.10% of women.
SOURCE: GSTHR
July 16, 2026 by planetofthevapes.co.uk
Government Announces Vape "Crackdown"
What happens when the easiest product to punish is also one of the tools helping people leave cigarettes behind? The government’s vape crackdown may target real concerns, but the consequences will depend on whether it separates illegal youth sales from adult harm reduction. Make vaping harder to access, understand or trust, and some smokers may simply stay with cigarettes. Tough policy is not the same as effective policy.
11.80% of the adult population are current smokers. There are approximately 6.7 million current smokers in United Kingdom 13.60% of men are current smokers but only 10.10% of women.
SOURCE: GSTHR
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Blogs
Harry’s Blog 132: “Zyn! Went The Strings Of My Heart” (with apologies to Judy Garland)
FDA approval of 20 nicotine pouch products is another step forward for tobacco harm reduction
The FDA in the U.S. has granted marketing authorisation for Zyn nicotine pouch products (five variations on mint plus five other flavours in two different strengths).
In its letter to PMI (who own Zyn manufacturers Swedish Match), the FDA wrote:
Based on our review of your MRTPAs [Modified Risk Tobacco Applications] we determined that the proposed modified risk tobacco products, …as actually used by consumers would significantly reduce harm and the risk of tobacco-related disease to individual tobacco users and benefit the health of the population as a whole, taking into account both users of tobacco products and persons who do not currently use tobacco products. Therefore, we authorize marketing of the tobacco products as modified risk tobacco products with the following modified risk information – “Using ZYN instead of cigarettes puts you at a lower risk of mouth cancer, heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, emphysema and chronic bronchitis”.
Harry’s Blog 131: Hidden harms
New publications from K•A•C discuss the challenge of smoking in treatment services caring for those who are HIV positive or coping with drug problems.
Smoking rates among those who are HIV positive and those who use drugs (as well as those with mental health problems where there may well be overlap) are anything from two to four times higher than the general adult smoking rates of most developed countries. One study of those receiving opiate substitute treatment recorded a smoking prevalence rate of 85%. Why should this be?
Harry’s blog 130: Follow the science not the money
For the sake of public health, end virtue signalling about THR funding
I arrived into the world of tobacco harm reduction (THR) from drugs and HIV harm reduction in 2015. I was invited into KAC by two valued colleagues from my previous world who were perfectly up front (and have never hidden the fact) that the funding for the organisation came from the Foundation for a Smoke Free World which in turn was funded by Philip Morris International. And the reason that they were prepared to use this money to further the cause of THR was that no other prospective funders for a harm reduction project were interested. Nobody back in the day was excited by the fact that if you could separate nicotine use from combustion the relative risk was massively reduced and the potential health gains enormous.