Stories

The UK convenience retail sector sees the tobacco, vape, and nicotine category driving footfall and profits, despite volatility due to shifting policies, consumer behaviors, and the growing illicit trade. While cigarette sales decline, nicotine demand remains strong, leading to opportunities with modern nicotine products like pouches and vape formats. The tobacco market remains stable, though price-driven, and premium segments like roll-your-own continue to lure loyal customers. Nicotine pouches are rapidly expanding, offering retailers operational benefits. Compliance, merchandising, and understanding consumer habits are crucial, especially as the category diversifies and regulations evolve.

A study tracking adults using nicotine pouches found that nearly half of smokers quit after 10 weeks. Cigarette use decreased from 15.9% to 8.1%. Some users switched from other tobacco to pouches. Data showed declines in smoking and smokeless tobacco, validating pouches as harm reduction tools. Motivation to quit smoking was high, with some participants stopping all tobacco use. Most users cited reducing or quitting smoking as reasons for pouch use. Study limitations included self-reported data and a non-representative sample. Researchers advocate for further research on pouches' long-term impact on public health and smoking cessation.

The Global Forum on Nicotine 2026 team is delighted to announce Dr Alex Wodak AM as our first speaker and who will deliver this year’s Michael Russell Oration. Alex is a retired physician, former President of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation, and has worked on drug law reform and tobacco harm reduction in his retirement. This year’s event is themed Prohibition and Public Health, and takes place from 3 - 5 June 2026 in Warsaw, Poland. Register at https://gfn.events/registration/. Entry is open for GFN Science Lab, offering the opportunity to showcase your scientific success.

Switching to e-cigarettes, especially for quitting smoking, is considered a healthier option as they lack some harmful compounds found in traditional cigarettes. E-liquids mainly contain propylene glycol and glycerine, deemed safe for ingestion. Nicotine in e-cigarettes aids in quitting smoking but can be addictive. Fruit-flavored e-liquids have been linked to potential health risks, including higher cell toxicity and compounds with carcinogenic potential. Chemical reactions in e-cigarettes can create respiratory irritants. While vaping is recommended for quitting smoking, risks exist due to unknown long-term effects.

The managing director of a tobacco company in Malaysia has urged the government to follow Japan’s example by reducing the harmful effects of smoking instead of banning e-cigarettes and vapes outright. Naeem Shahab Khan of Philip Morris Malaysia and Singapore noted that Japan legally ensures access to heated tobacco products and other alternatives for smokers. He called this a “pragmatic harm-reduction approach.” In Malaysia, e-cigarettes and vapes will be banned by the end of this year, starting with pod system vapes. Khan also highlighted that Japan uses a separate tax structure for heated tobacco products.

The European Commission is engaging in “anti-vaccine-style science denial” according to leading health experts after it rejected overwhelming evidence supporting reduced harm products such as vapes, nicotine pouches and heated tobacco products. Smoke Free Sweden says that the evidence showing the vaping reduces smoking and smoking-related disease is “overwhelming”.

Public health often warns about tobacco industry interference—but what happens when tobacco control itself is captured by benevolent donors and non-profit organizations? In this GFN interview, economist Roger Bate explains why the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is uniquely vulnerable to outside influence, how Bloomberg-funded NGOs shape policy agendas upstream, and why this system consistently excludes tobacco harm reduction despite strong evidence.

When governments ban products, they don’t eliminate demand—they redirect it. That basic economic fact is especially important in nicotine policy, where people don’t simply stop using nicotine because a preferred product disappears. Flavored vaping bans are a case in point. Many states and some cities have enacted bans on in-store and/​or online sales of flavored vapes. However, adults also enjoy these flavored products, and many trying to quit smoking find it easier with flavored options.

Arizona received a failing grade in tobacco control efforts according to the American Lung Association's report. Despite an increase in funding to $22 million in 2026, the state still falls short of CDC recommendations. The report urges Arizona to improve funding for tobacco prevention programs and raise taxes on tobacco products to protect communities and reduce tobacco use.

Youth vaping is used to oppose adult access to nicotine vapes, though the issue is often exaggerated. New Zealand has successfully reduced youth vaping rates by implementing strict regulations without hindering harm reduction. The country's approach includes penalties for selling to minors and limiting marketing tactics. New Zealand's success in reducing smoking and youth vaping challenges misinformation and fear-mongering. In contrast, Australia's stringent vape restrictions have not yielded the same public health benefits. While New Zealand has made significant progress, challenges remain, especially among indigenous Māori youth.