Spain was set to become one of Europe’s most restrictive countries for nicotine pouches and other nicotine products. Now, those plans have been put on hold. The Spanish Parliament has officially been dissolved, meaning the government’s proposed amendments to the country’s main tobacco law, Law 28/2005, have automatically been shelved. The legislation included sweeping changes […]

There are two schools of thought in today’s tobacco and nicotine policy debate. One wants to reduce smoking. The other wants to reduce nicotine use. As long as policymakers continue to pretend these are the same thing, Europe will continue to fail. Because if the goal really is to eliminate cigarettes, policymakers should start by […]

Eight European governments (the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, France, Hungary, Latvia, Slovenia, and Spain) formally asked the European Commission to take an extreme approach to the next Tobacco Products Directive (TPD3): freeze new nicotine categories, impose broad flavour and nicotine restrictions, curb cross-border sales, and preserve national powers to ban products such as nicotine pouches.  Youth […]

The European Parliament has provided an early indication of how nicotine pouches could be treated in the next generation of EU nicotine regulation. Last week’s vote on Parliament’s resolution on cardiovascular health prevention, while non-binding, offers important political signals ahead of the European Commission’s expected revision of the EU tobacco and nicotine framework in late […]

The Spanish government has taken an unexpected step in its ongoing regulation of nicotine pouches. After more than a year of political debate and over 4,000 stakeholder submissions, the Spanish government has now raised its proposed nicotine cap from 0.99 mg to 4 mg per pouch. While the level remains low compared with products currently […]

As the EU prepares its next major tobacco and nicotine legislation, there are two countries Brussels should study more closely. Australia and New Zealand chose very different paths. The results could hardly be more different. As the third version of the EU Tobacco Products Directive, TPD3, gets closer, pressure is growing from countries and organisations […]

First Argentina. Now maybe Australia. For years, Australia was held up as a global role model in tobacco control. Prescription-only vapes. A ban on nicotine pouches. Sky-high tobacco taxes. Among a number of recommendations, the Senate committee’s report on the illegal tobacco crisis in Australia calls for lower tobacco excise, stronger enforcement and New Zealand-style […]

Australia has long been praised as a global leader in tobacco control. With extremely high taxes, strict restrictions and policies closely aligned with WHO recommendations, the goal was to reduce nicotine use. The result? According to official estimates, the black market now accounts for around 80% of all tobacco and nicotine consumption. More and more […]

In the European nicotine debate, the same mistake is repeated time and time again: policymakers focus on the existence of products rather than the problems they claim to be trying to solve. Now, Poland is at the centre of attention following a legislative proposal that could, in practice, ban large parts of the market for […]

A new analysis based on the European Commission’s Special Eurobarometer 539 survey is already being framed as a warning about nicotine pouches in Europe. But the same numbers tell a different story: nicotine pouch use remains low, smoking remains high, and the EU is missing one of the clearest harm reduction signals in its own […]