Barnaby Page, Author at TobaccoIntelligence

What to expect for US tobacco and nicotine regulation under Trump

Written by Barnaby Page || 8th November 2024 || News analysis |

Talking about the future of the novel nicotine sector in the United States – its biggest single market by a long way – just got a whole lot harder ...

Tamarind Intelligence podcast: Inside the illicit vape problem

Written by Barnaby Page || 16th October 2024 || Podcasts |

Join Tamarind Intelligence founder Tim Phillips and Editorial Director Barnaby Page as they examine the illicit e-cigarette...

Monthly regulatory podcast: October

Written by Barnaby Page || 10th October 2024 || Regulatory alerts podcasts |

The TobaccoIntelligence monthly regulatory podcast provides insight and analysis on the major regulatory developments of the previous month affecting the sector ...

New UK government could favour harm reduction but also a generational ban

Written by Barnaby Page || 9th July 2024 || News analysis |

As the new UK prime minister settles in, attempts are already being made to push novel nicotine regulation to the top of his agenda, and similar attempts are being made by lobbyists in every sector ...

Ten lessons learned over a decade of covering the novel nicotine industry

Written by Barnaby Page || 4th July 2024 || Blog , News analysis |

In this part of a series of articles celebrating the tenth anniversary of Tamarind Intelligence, our editorial director shares ten things he’s learned about the sector in the last ten years ...

Lessons learned from the thought-provoking Global Forum on Nicotine

Written by Barnaby Page || 21st June 2024 || Blog , News analysis |

The Global Forum on Nicotine was in Warsaw again last week, and once again proved to be one of the most thought-provoking events on the tobacco harm reduction calendar ...

What’s in a name? Plenty, when we can’t seem to agree on industry terminology

Written by Barnaby Page || 18th January 2024 || Blog , News analysis |

Perception is often at least as important as reality in forming policy-makers’ and the public’s opinion where novel nicotine products are concerned, but there’s a persistent problem with terminology ...

UK government proposes generational tobacco ban to reach smoke-free goal

Written by Barnaby Page || 5th October 2023 || News analysis |

The UK government is considering a generational ban for most tobacco products — but not e-cigarettes — as well as restrictions on disposable vapes and flavours, according to proposals issued this week ...

The pollution problem – the latest culprits, who’s to blame and is it solvable?

Written by Barnaby Page || 18th August 2023 || Blog |

The vast volumes of waste and litter attributable to vaping have become a major issue in recent months, and even if some of the media coverage seems biased, the underlying problem is real enough ...

Did gloomy forecasts for regulation of novel nicotine products get it wrong?

Written by Barnaby Page || 21st July 2023 || Blog |

There are several reasons to be cautiously negative about the direction regulation of novel nicotine products will follow, globally – but does that make up a fair picture? ...

What we talk about when we talk about tobacco – the missing word is ‘nicotine’

Written by Barnaby Page || 13th July 2023 || Blog |

What’s in a name? Where the novel nicotine products sector is concerned, what’s more significant may be what’s not in the names of its categories – specifically, the word “nicotine” ...

Is Canada clutching at straws with health warnings that go straight up in smoke?

Written by Barnaby Page || 8th June 2023 || Blog |

Canada’s decision to require health warnings on individual cigarettes was described by Carolyn Bennett, minister for mental health and addictions, as a “bold action”. But it may also be an act of slight desperation ...

In today’s India, it seems, even to talk about harm reduction issues is illegal

Written by Barnaby Page || 25th May 2023 || Blog |

India is far from unique in the high level of misperception about nicotine among its doctors and its politicians. But sometimes the famously fussy bureaucracy can become positively farcical ...

Fears that haunt vaping could easily lurk around other novel nicotine products too

Written by Barnaby Page || 18th May 2023 || Blog |

Vapour is currently the area of tobacco harm reduction where the biggest fears are focused. But that is not because it is uniquely relevant to them, in any rational sense ...

Is it time the WHO reconsidered its antagonism to the tobacco industry?

Written by Barnaby Page || 11th May 2023 || Blog |

The World Health Organization (WHO) insists on keeping the tobacco industry and tobacco regulators as far apart as possible, for sound historical reasons. But is it time this policy was reconsidered? ...

Australian rules: another crackdown on ‘tobacco’ that cuts out the alternatives

Written by Barnaby Page || 4th May 2023 || Blog |

Health minister Mark Butler wasn’t mincing his words. “Australia needs to reclaim its position as a world leader on tobacco control,” he said as he announced another planned crackdown on e-cigarettes ...

Panama COP won’t sway many minds but may set the tone on heated tobacco

Written by Barnaby Page || 20th April 2023 || Blog |

Tobacco control’s catchiest acronym is back later this year, with the next WHO FCTC COP (World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Conference of the Parties) due to be held in Panama in November ...

Study raises higher hopes for heated tobacco in the smoking cessation stakes

Written by Barnaby Page || 13th April 2023 || Blog |

Heated tobacco has never attracted the same level of scientific attention as vaping – but the encouraging results of a new study may change that ...

A whole new rulebook – but what do US FDA proposals really mean in practice?

Written by Barnaby Page || 16th March 2023 || Blog |

What the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s proposed new rule on manufacturing practices for tobacco products really means is an intriguing question. What can it tell us about the agency’s vision for future regulation? ...

Regulatory differences between states reveal a lot about attitudes and approach

Written by Barnaby Page || 16th February 2023 || Blog |

So much attention is given to the edicts of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that it’s easy to forget individual states – not to mention cities – can also have a big impact on the regulation...

FDA hostility to flavours – even menthol – may not be bad news for heated tobacco

Written by Barnaby Page || 2nd February 2023 || Blog |

Flavours continue to be the main target of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US when it comes to novel nicotine products, it seems – and that could give heated tobacco an edge over e-cigarettes ...

Health warning: ‘science’ so badly flawed it should never have been published

Written by Barnaby Page || 11th January 2023 || Blog |

There remains a worryingly large amount of research on novel nicotine products which makes casual, almost always negative, assumptions...and the occasional item so faulty it should never have been published at all ...

A world first for New Zealand – but what does a generational cigarette ban mean?

Written by Barnaby Page || 22nd December 2022 || Blog |

New Zealand’s ban on cigarette sales to people born after 1st January 2009 may look like a dry run for complete prohibition. But there’s a crucial difference ...

‘Overwhelmed, fatigued and upended’ – review diagnoses US CTP’s troubles

Written by Barnaby Page || 20th December 2022 || News analysis |

The US Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (FDA CTP) is “reactive and overwhelmed”, staff are “fatigued”, the industry and public health advocates are “frustrated”, and litigation has “upended” the CTP’s plans ...

The genie’s out of the bottle – it’s time the pros and antis got their heads together

Written by Barnaby Page || 13th December 2022 || Blog |

Many companies, some countries, and of course consumers in their millions are making headway in replacing combustible tobacco with safer alternatives…but what’s holding back the others? ...

Swedish Match and a cheaper Iqos – PMI’s ‘cunning plan’ begins to become clear

Written by Barnaby Page || 24th November 2022 || Blog |

There’s been plenty of speculation about PMI’s plans for its new business – but if I were an evil tobacco mastermind trying to prevent uptake of less risky products, very publicly buying Swedish Match wouldn’t be top of...

HTP in Japan – the seldom told good news story for tobacco harm reduction

Written by Barnaby Page || 3rd November 2022 || Blog |

Heated tobacco has played a big part in eliminating smoking in Japan, not just nibbling away at the edges of smoking prevalence but severely reducing the presence of the combustible cigarette ...

Coming soon to a nicotine product near you – the correlation/causation fallacy

Written by Barnaby Page || 13th October 2022 || Blog |

As novel nicotine products grow in popularity, it's only a matter of time before false links are drawn between them and the use of some other substance, be it cannabis or combustible tobacco or saturated fats ...

Pouches are to smoking as smartphones are to the earliest computers – discuss

Written by Barnaby Page || 5th October 2022 || Blog |

It’s fascinating to speculate on how the pouch market will develop. Who will use them, and why, and what will they replace? ...

Swedish Match awarded top marks for transformation to reduced risk

Written by Barnaby Page || 29th September 2022 || News analysis |

Swedish Match was the clear winner in this year’s Tobacco Transformation Index, which ranks major tobacco companies on their shift toward reduced-risk products ...

Reduced risk or prolonged peril? Are views shifting on the nicotine question?

Written by Barnaby Page || 22nd September 2022 || Blog |

Is there any connection between people’s knowledge of reduced-risk products and their attitudes toward them? Our third survey of European Parliament members' views will show how any such connection may have altered ...

Tobacco may not be a vote-winning issue, but what a difference an election makes

Written by Barnaby Page || 15th September 2022 || Blog |

After the victory of right-wing parties in Sweden’s very close election this week, the country’s tobacco alternatives sector – and its customers – may well be breathing a sigh of relief ...

What do e-cig cases tell us about where US FDA might go on other alternatives?

Written by Barnaby Page || 8th September 2022 || Blog |

Another day, another judgement in the saga of the US vapour industry’s cases against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – but what might the conflicting decisions mean for other smoking alternatives? ...

Who, and where, is the science on novel tobacco products coming from?

Written by Barnaby Page || 10th August 2022 || Blog |

Scientific research into novel nicotine alternatives has so far largely focused on vaping, but that is likely to change as the products become more widespread ...

Does the latest in the premium cigar case reveal flaws in the FDA’s judgement?

Written by Barnaby Page || 15th July 2022 || Blog |

You can almost hear the judge’s sigh as he wrote his latest opinion in the long-running litigation between the FDA and the cigar industry over the latter’s treatment by the 2016 final deeming rule. Here we go again…...

Could other countries take UK’s Khan review as a blueprint for change?

Written by Barnaby Page || 7th July 2022 || Blog |

Could the Khan report, which endorses the UK's positive attitude towards e-cigs also have lessons for the rest of the world, even for countries where there is far more hostility toward novel tobacco products? ...

Now it’s official – but does US nicotine cut apply to more than just combustibles?

Written by Barnaby Page || 24th June 2022 || Blog |

Some headlines notwithstanding, it doesn’t sound like Joe Biden actually sat in the Oval Office and signed off mandatory nicotine reduction while photographers recorded the historic moment ...

How nicotine levels could become a hot issue for smokers and politicians alike

Written by Barnaby Page || 16th June 2022 || Blog |

Rumours circulating this week that the Biden administration is about to put its weight behind mandatory nicotine reduction in combustibles will have been music to the ears of 22nd Century Group, if few others ...

Novel nicotine products can’t escape WHO’s focus on environmental impact

Written by Barnaby Page || 9th June 2022 || Blog |

Of course it was only to be expected that the World Health Organization (WHO) would include novel nicotine products in its annual condemnations for World No Tobacco Day, but the approach it took this year was significant: a...

How much are tobacco companies really doing to support harm reduction?

Written by Barnaby Page || 31st May 2022 || Blog |

Most tobacco companies are keen to be seen supporting the concept of harm reduction, especially through reduced-risk products like e-cigarettes, heat-not-burn and pouches. But how far is their support for the idea actually having an effect on their...

Are novel nicotine products a ‘huge distraction’ from the real problem?

Written by Barnaby Page || 19th May 2022 || Blog |

Speaking at the launch of the seventh edition of the Atlas, US public health scholar Jeffrey Drope suggested that new nicotine technologies are “a huge distraction” which have “confused governments, the public health community and the public” ...

What would PMI’s takeover of Swedish Match mean for the sector?

Written by Barnaby Page || 12th May 2022 || Blog |

The $16bn takeover of Swedish Match by Philip Morris International (PMI) now seems more likely to happen than not (at least as of today; these things are never certain until the last signature is signed) ...

As US FDA moves towards a menthol ban, what might it mean for novel products?

Written by Barnaby Page || 5th May 2022 || Blog |

The long-mooted proposal to prohibit menthol is the most dramatic step the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has taken since the 2009 Tobacco Control Act exempted menthol from a general ban on flavoured tobacco ...

Why we don’t always get the science we need – and what can be done about it

Written by Barnaby Page || 20th April 2022 || Blog |

Is the present system of peer-reviewed journal publication of scientific papers the best way to get the best science – particularly in the controversial world of tobacco? There are those who think it may not be ...

Change is afoot at the US CTP and CDC – but what will it mean for tobacco?

Written by Barnaby Page || 8th April 2022 || Blog |

Michele Mital’s appointment as acting head of the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) is not bad news for the industry, even if it’s not quite good news. And there may be bigger change at the Centers for Disease...

Harm reduction is a difficult but vital message to convey to the world’s poorest

Written by Barnaby Page || 31st March 2022 || Blog |

Broadening the appeal of tobacco harm reduction (THR) products in low- and middle-income countries can be an uphill struggle, though it arguably matters more there than anywhere else ...

Plenty of food for thought as nicotine researchers get their heads together

Written by Barnaby Page || 24th March 2022 || Blog |

The Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) published a huge number of research abstracts to accompany its annual get-together – here are some of the highlights ...

New study on nicotine pouches stresses importance of understanding products

Written by Barnaby Page || 10th March 2022 || Blog |

As the market for nicotine pouches swells, there is – just as with heated tobacco a few years ago – a risk that regulatory interest outpaces scientific research ...

What science should we be following on novel tobacco products – and how far?

Written by Barnaby Page || 2nd March 2022 || Blog , News analysis |

“Following the science” is one of the most misleading, clichés of the pandemic, and both advocates and enemies of novel tobacco products need to be cautious of claiming to do the same thing ...

How the success or failure of VLNCs could affect regulation of alternatives

Written by Barnaby Page || 3rd February 2022 || Blog , News analysis |

Acceptance by the US FDA of very-low-nicotine cigarettes as a modified risk product may be controversial, even bizarre, but it will be worth seeing how they perform in the market – and how that may affect future regulation...

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