Stories

In line with what tobacco harm reduction experts have been suggesting all along, Australia’s opposition party wants to slash tobacco taxes and legalise regulated vapes and nicotine pouches to undermine the country’s booming black market.

This multi-site clinical trial will generate data on the efficacy of tirzepatide for smoking cessation and associated outcomes (e.g., post-cessation weight gain) in treatment-seeking people who smoke (PWS) with overweight or obesity. A sample of (...)

At GTNF 2026 in Lisbon, Chris Greer, senior vice president for regulatory and external affairs at Stryk Brands, moderated a panel examining how companies can navigate an increasingly fragmented global trade environment. “Surviving in a Global Trade System” focused on cross-border challenges involving taxes, tariffs, regulation, movement of goods and services, and labor, with panelists arguing that increasingly localized requirements are creating high costs and complexity for businesses.

Labor is cracking down on the illicit tobacco trade with new offences targeting organised crime, distributors and retailers selling illegal cigarettes.

The changes would also make it easier to seize the profits and assets of criminals involved in the black market.

Government vaping restrictions could cost public health up to £4.5 billion, according to Elfbar, a leading smoking cessation brand in the UK.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has selected Bret Koplow, Ph.D., J.D., as director of the Center for Tobacco Products, giving the center a permanent leader with more than a decade of legal, policy, and regulatory experience at the agency. Koplow has served at FDA since 2011, including as senior counselor to the FDA commissioner, where he focused on regulatory, policy, and operational matters involving tobacco products.

Nicotine pouches suit adults who prioritise a compact, vapour-free option with no charging or maintenance. Vaping products suit adults who value flavour range, an inhaled experience and the familiarity of a device-based routine. Many adult nicotine users may see a role for both, using a vape as their main format and pouches when vaping is not practical.

Ireland’s Taoiseach has been accused of dangerously misleading smokers after claiming vapes are “nearly worse than cigarettes” and signalling support for an outright ban.

Micheál Martin’s comments contradict the latest evidence from Cochrane, widely regarded as the gold standard for independent medical evidence.

Cochrane’s latest review, published on August 26, found high-certainty evidence that nicotine vapes help more people quit smoking than traditional nicotine-replacement therapy (NRT) such as patches and gum.

GSTHR estimates about 200 million people worldwide use what it terms “safer nicotine products,” including vapes, heated tobacco, nicotine pouches and snus. The report says use of non-combustible products rose while smoking rates fell in 28 countries analyzed.

The language around vaping has become a policy tool in itself. Describe a product mainly through fear, and the public may never hear the more important comparison: continued smoking versus switching away from combustion. A health economist’s criticism of the FDA campaign highlights the cost of messaging that treats caution as neutrality. Public health should inform smokers clearly, not make lower-risk choices sound too dangerous to consider.