Bangladesh Restriction Crisis – Banning Flavored E-Cigarettes Increases Traditional Cigarette Use Among Young Adults – Health experts defend Sweden’s smoke-free success against EU’s 700% tax hike – 4 experts share insights from Sweden’s experience on the changing nicotine and public health landscape’ – 2024 – More Harm Than Good – Court overturns vaping expulsion – France will ban nicotine pouches starting March 2026 – Australia’s Illicit Tobacco Crisis: How Baalman, Butler and the PHAA Are Gaslighting the Public – Philippine experts urge harm reduction strategy for tobacco control – Filipino tourists warned vs bringing vape to Singapore – Media Watch: The Echo Struggles Badly with Vaping Causation – FDA Will Fast Track Nicotine Pouch Pilot Program – EXTREME BURDEN – Nicotine Control Threatens Canada’s Progress | GFN.TV Interviews
Restrictions on safer alternatives to cigarettes will fuel the tobacco epidemic that is responsible for more than one in five of all deaths in Bangladesh, according to a major Tale of Two Nations report by international health experts released last week. The report makes seven key recommendations for Bangladesh on how to address its tobacco crisis.
Research published in September 2025 in Health Economics has revealed that comprehensive state bans on flavored e-cigarettes or vaporized nicotine products may be unintentionally driving young adults toward greater use of traditional cigarettes. The study, conducted by a team of health economists, raises concerns about the unintended consequences of well-meaning tobacco control policies implemented across multiple states.
International health experts are rallying behind Sweden’s smoke-free success, warning that an EU-driven 700% tax hike on nicotine pouches threatens to destroy the world’s leading harm-reduction model.
Smoke Free Sweden today formally submitted its response to the Ministry of Finance on the European Commission’s proposed tobacco excise directive, urging the Government to protect Sweden’s harm reduction model that has delivered the lowest smoking rates in Europe.
Sweden offers a unique model in handling nicotine products and their impact on public health, drawing on a long history with tobacco. In a special discussion, several experts and officials addressed key questions regarding the relationship between nicotine use and smoking, highlighting the concept of “harm reduction” as an effective public health strategy. This article presents the perspectives of four experts and representatives—Dr. Joseph Ashkar, Professor Karl Fagerström, Patrick Strömmer, and Samuel Lundell—to provide a deeper understanding of the dynamics behind this transformation.
Good afternoon! Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts on how misperceptions about tobacco harm reduction hurt people. There are several noncombustible options that consumers may use instead of smoking tobacco. Those options dramatically reduce the risk of smoking-related diseases and death.
The Western Cape High Court declared two disciplinary actions against two learners who were vaping in the school’s hostel unlawful.
The now-Grade 10 learners were twice found to be vaping. The first incident was at the end of 2023 when they were in Grade 8, and the second incident was last year, a few months down the line.
The school’s governing body twice punished them for the same offence, which amounts to double jeopardy.
During the first incident in November 2023, both learners, only identified as L and M, were expelled from the hostel for a few months.
The French Government published in the Journal officiel on September 6, 2025 that will ban the manufacture, sale, import, distribution, and use of all oral products containing nicotine (except medicinal products and chewing tobacco) starting March 2026. These products include nicotine pouches, balls, chewing gum, pastes, lozenges, and strips. The decision is based on the growing evidence of their potential toxicity and addictive properties, particularly among minors, with reported poisoning cases among adolescents increasing significantly.
Anti-tobacco organizations hailed the decision as a crucial safeguard for youth and a necessary response to an emergent market exploiting nicotine addiction. In contrast, tobacco industry players – like British American Tobacco France and Philip Morris France – criticized the ban as dogmatic and potentially depriving adult smokers of regulated alternatives.
Alan Gor, Australia Let’s Improve Vaping Education (A.L.I.V.E.)
Australia today finds itself in the grip of a tobacco control disaster of its own making. With the world’s highest cigarette prices, a violent illicit market worth billions, and record levels of organised crime involvement, the crisis is undeniable. Yet, listen to Health Minister Mark Butler, the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA), or their media allies such as Baalman. You’ll hear a very different story: nothing to see here, it’s all just tobacco industry spin.
That’s not just misleading, it’s dangerous. By refusing to acknowledge the consequences of their own prohibitionist policies, Australia’s public health establishment is leaving smokers and communities to pay the price, while organised crime counts the profits.
EXPERTS on Wednesday pressed the Philippine government to adopt harm reduction strategies in its tobacco control policy, warning that millions of Filipino smokers remain at risk as quit rates stay low.
At a press briefing hosted by the Consumer Choice Center on Wednesday, Dr. Lorenzo Mata, president of Quit For Good, said many physicians in the country are still unaware of harm reduction as a public health approach.
A CONSUMER advocacy group over the weekend warned Filipinos against bringing electronic cigarettes, or vapes, into Singapore, a popular tourist destination in Southeast Asia.
“If you pack a vape or e-cigarette in your luggage, you are risking heavy fines, deportation and maybe even jail time,” said Martin Cullip, an international fellow at the Consumer Center for The Taxpayers Protection Alliance.
The Echo is an institution in Cork, Ireland. First published in 1892, the paper has provided an outlet for the county’s unique voice over the years and is even famous for playing a notable role in Ireland’s revolutionary years. Now owned by the Irish Times Group, it is available in both print and online formats.
While RFK Jnr’s start as Secretary of Health and Human Services has been marked by controversy, his support for nicotine pouches could lead to progress. As reported by Reuters this morning, the FDA has announced the launch of a fast-track pilot program to accelerate the review process for nicotine pouches. Let’s take a look.
FDA fast track
Starting September 8th, the FDA will begin a fast-track program for nicotine pouch products from four brands: Philip Morris International, Altria, Reynolds American (a subsidiary of British American Tobacco), and Turning Point Brands.
Canada’s war on nicotine has reached an extreme burden. With a 124% tax hike, sweeping flavor bans, and a “nicotine control” agenda, millions of adult vapers are in danger of being pushed back to smoking. Shot on location at GFN 2025 in Warsaw, Sam Tam, president of the Canadian Vaping Association, warns that misguided policies are destroying small businesses, fueling the black market, and undermining Canada’s smoke-free future.
On track to achieve a smoking rate below 5%, Sweden has taken yet another progressive step in the realm of harm reduction, solidifying its leadership role among the EU countries. Today, the Swedish government has announced its plan to reduce the tax on snus, a smokeless tobacco product, by 20% while increasing the tax on cigarettes and smoking tobacco by 9%.