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 […]

France says it is fighting nicotine. In reality, it has created Europe’s largest black market. As legal alternatives are banned, consumers are being pushed straight into the hands of criminal networks. France likes to present itself as a leader in the fight against nicotine. High taxes and outright bans on products such as nicotine pouches […]

For too long, tobacco control has treated taxes, restrictions, and bans as the only serious tools for reducing smoking. But as Europe prepares its next generation of nicotine rules, that old playbook is no longer enough.  A Challenge to Old Tobacco Control Assumptions  A new scientific editorial is challenging one of the central assumptions behind modern tobacco […]

In Brussels, they sit and write the future of Europe. Not as a vision of freedom, innovation, or quality of life—but as a detailed rulebook for how you should live your life, chew your food, and manage your own habits. It’s called public health. In practice, it is lifestyle politics. At the center stands the […]

The European Commission has launched a new public consultation: Public consultation questionnaire – Revision of the EU rules on tobacco products and tobacco advertising. On the surface, it is about gathering views. In practice, however, the questionnaire raises serious concerns as to whether the EU is genuinely interested in what citizens think – or whether […]

Cyprus has officially stepped away from efforts to force a consensus on the Tobacco Taxation Directive (TED)—exactly as expected. The deadlocked file now moves to the incoming Irish presidency. A Cypriot spokesperson confirmed to Politico Pro Healthcare that months of attempted compromises failed to resolve deep divisions between EU member states. In short: the proposal collapsed […]

Around the world, the debate is moving toward a more pragmatic nicotine policy, where the focus is shifting from total bans to real public health outcomes. Pouch Patrol is actively involved in these discussions, most recently through a submission in Australia (number 41), where strict regulations and prohibitions have proven to work against their original […]