Blog - Articles, news and information around the nicotine sector

A blogger’s farewell – the inside dope on the tobacco alternatives question

Written by Aidan Semmens | 10th August 2023

After the opening question, “Have you ever used cannabis?” came the follow-up: “Do you think it did you any harm?” To which my honest answer was: “Yes. It got me hooked on tobacco” ...

Sustainability versus waste and pollution – it’s the major, growing issue we all face

Written by Aidan Semmens | 3rd August 2023

While no industry, from aviation to mining, farming to fishing, can pretend to be uninvolved in the major growing issue of the environment, the tobacco industry is as inescapably bound up in the debate as...

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

Written by Barnaby Page | 21st July 2023

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

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” ...

Gripped in a vice between the powers of Big Government and Big Tobacco

Written by Aidan Semmens | 6th July 2023

It’s an awkward complication in any global narrative about fairness, equality and social responsibility, that an awful lot of people in mostly lower-income countries owe their livelihoods to growing tobacco ...

Cannabis use may cut smoking – but what harm lies in using both together?

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 22nd June 2023

US cannabis users are three times more likely to be cigarette smokers than those who don’t use cannabis, but this statistic is an example of the “gateway drug fallacy” ...

No love for novel products? EC accused of bias in tobacco law revision consultation

Written by Tiziana Cauli | 15th June 2023

A recent public consultation launched by the European Commission to evaluate the revision of Europe’s tobacco laws has raised criticism among respondents who said questions were biased against lower-risk nicotine-based smoking alternatives ...

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

Written by Barnaby Page | 8th June 2023

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Statistics on kids’ smoking behaviours may be looked at in very different ways

Written by Aidan Semmens | 6th April 2023

While statistics are vital to understanding our world, they are often misunderstood – and that can be important when it comes to forming opinions and laws on controversial issues such as tobacco ...

Environmental policies that could bring big changes to the industry – eventually

Written by Aidan Semmens | 22nd March 2023

While not related solely or specifically to tobacco products, novel or otherwise, moves in both the EU and the US towards environmental regulations are likely to have a major impact on the sector ...

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

Written by Barnaby Page | 16th March 2023

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?...

Tamarind Intelligence – analysis and data trusted by governments and beyond

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 8th March 2023

Tamarind Intelligence data continues to be an invaluable tool used by governments and NGOs around the world, contributing to a wide number of government and supra-national projects ...

Altruistic Altria, or why an anti-tobacco activist has taken up the giants’ cause

Written by Aidan Semmens | 1st March 2023

Is Dave Dobbins’s switch from COO of the Truth Initiative to a role with a tobacco company a case of gamekeeper turned poacher – or is there another interpretation we can put on it? ...

Regulatory differences between states reveal a lot about attitudes and approach

Written by Barnaby Page | 16th February 2023

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...

Could a rapper with a hemp cigarette mean big trouble for Big Tobacco?

Written by Freddie Dawson | 9th February 2023

Could the involvement of Snoop Dogg help a Californian company to “disrupt tobacco’s nearly $1tn industry with hemp cigarettes, smoking paper and other alternatives to nicotine tobacco”? ...

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

Written by Barnaby Page | 2nd February 2023

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...

Boom in novel tobacco products outstrips vaping growth – exactly as we foresaw

Written by Freddie Dawson | 18th January 2023

TobaccoIntelligence predicted a year ago that increasing restrictions and taxes on vaping products would drive more users to other tobacco alternatives in 2022. And it does appear that this has been the case ...

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

Written by Barnaby Page | 11th January 2023

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 ...

Of headaches, pirates, and how far weed is growing as cigarette smoking declines

Written by Aidan Semmens | 5th January 2023

Correlation is not causation, but it’s tempting to see a meaningful pattern in figures showing that US adults (particularly the younger ones) are smoking less tobacco and using more cannabis ...

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

Written by Barnaby Page | 22nd December 2022

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 ...

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

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

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...

How will new EU rules on batteries affect the tobacco alternatives industry?

Written by Dmytro Korchahin | 17th November 2022

The upcoming revision of the regulation of batteries in the EU may well have a profound effect the heated tobacco industry, with safety, sustainability and the environment all coming under the lawmakers' microscope ...

The tobacco giant’s officer who sees past the politicians’ global greenwash policies

Written by Aidan Semmens | 9th November 2022

Jennifer Motles, chief sustainability officer for PMI, has urged companies of all kinds to go beyond seeing ESG (environmental, social and governance) impact reporting as a tick-box exercise ...

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

Written by Barnaby Page | 3rd November 2022

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 ...

Taxing novel nicotine products in Latin America – the WHO, the why and the how

Written by Tiziana Cauli | 19th October 2022

While nobody seriously argues that combustibles shouldn’t be taxed, the taxation of novel nicotine products has always been a controversial issue ...

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

Written by Barnaby Page | 13th October 2022

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...

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

Written by Barnaby Page | 5th October 2022

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

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

Written by Barnaby Page | 22nd September 2022

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

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

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? ...

Banned as a novel food? One day tobacco might be accepted as a super-food

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 18th August 2022

While nicotine pouches are classed in the EU as food products with an unauthorised ingredient, it could be argued that there is nothing novel about tobacco, or nicotine, in food – and it could have...

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

Written by Barnaby Page | 10th August 2022

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 ...

Could Japan be leading the way towards the end of the combustible cigarette?

Written by Aidan Semmens | 4th August 2022

The latest financial report from Japan Tobacco International tells a tale that should make bedroom and boardroom reading for government officials, public health departments and regulators everywhere ...

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

Written by Barnaby Page | 15th July 2022

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...

Malaysian minister grabs more headlines with birthdate plan to phase out nicotine

Written by Aidan Semmens | 13th July 2022

Trust a politician to come up with a memorable soundbite, a catchy slogan or a simple statement that leaps out at you from the headlines. Top prize this week to Malaysia’s health minister Khairy Jamaluddin...

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

Written by Barnaby Page | 7th July 2022

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

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

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

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...

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

Written by Barnaby Page | 31st May 2022

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...

WHO's antagonism to tobacco-based vaccine could hinder anti-Covid efforts

Written by TobaccoIntelligence | 25th May 2022

The World Health Organization (WHO)'s rejection of a new Covid-19 vaccine on anti-tobacco grounds will almost certainly end up having a negative impact on public health – particularly in the developing world ...

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

Written by Barnaby Page | 19th May 2022

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...

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

Written by Barnaby Page | 12th May 2022

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)...

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