Blog

Harry’s blog 94: Extinguish Rebellion

Oct. 14, 2019

They campaign, make representations to politicians, run websites, social media, exchange and provide information and are support networks for people wanting to make the switch away from smoking. A...

Harry’s blog 93: The acid rain of vaping lies

Sept. 23, 2019

Like the planet, the war against nicotine is hotting up; predictably, the outbreak of vaping related deaths presented a golden opportunity for some reefer-madness type publicity from allegedly rep...

Still blowing smoke in Asia

Sept. 20, 2019

But this is sadly not the case – in fact, aside from a handful of more pragmatic and socially responsible governments in the region, the reverse is the reality in most Asian countries where legisl...

Keys to end smoking in Asia (and beyond): innovation and harm reduction

Sept. 2, 2019

Asia-Pacific is home to the largest population of smokers in the world, and at the same time it is home to many innovative enterprises. According to one of the keynote speakers, Professor David Sw...

Harry’s Blog 92: You are wrong at the top of your voice

Aug. 27, 2019

Recently an employee of the University of California managed to squeeze thirteen erroneous claims into a 700 word commentary about vaping. In response, former UK ASH director Clive Bates tapped ou...

Harry’s Blog 91: Fifteen minutes of sane

July 29, 2019

https://youtu.be/MVM3M3o2Nao From the sublime to the ridiculous, but daft with a point to make. While writing this next bit, it was hot enough in London to fry an egg on the head of the hyperventi...

Harry’s blog 90: The truth is out there – but not for you

July 16, 2019

I raise this due to a recent and inadvertent admission by the American Lung Association (ALA) that: “Scientists have been working hard to debunk the belief that e-cigarettes are less harmful than ...

Harry’s blog 89: GFN 2019 – a very civil society

June 24, 2019

Nowadays, there is a view that such a gathering of like-minded people is just another echo chamber where we are all agree and partake of a massive hug-fest. But we certainly do not all agree on ev...

Harry’s blog 88: The Upton Sinclair factor

June 4, 2019

I often read exasperated outbursts on social media and in op-eds from pro- drug reform campaigners who cannot understand why the powers that be don’t ‘get’ that the war on drugs has failed and tha...

Harry’s blog 87: A Bridge Over Troubled Waters

May 20, 2019

The meeting was held in the headquarters of INFARMED, the Portuguese equivalent of the FDA; its President, Professor Maria do Céu Machado, was in the room sitting alongside Manuel Cardoso, Deputy ...