This article is based on reporting originally published by the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. A link to the full story is provided below. Several European countries are tightening regulations on nicotine pouches, but France is going the furthest. From April 1, nicotine pouches will be classified under some of the country’s strictest laws, making possession, use, […]

EU tobacco policy is in free fall.  The Tobacco Tax Directive (TTD) now risks not only collapsing, but being hijacked in a political game that lacks any connection to reality.  At the same time, the third revision of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) is underway. In principle, this is reasonable. The current directive dates back to 2014—a time when nicotine pouches did not even exist.  Fourteen EU countries have already regulated nicotine pouches. Only a handful have banned them. A total ban under TPD3 is therefore highly unlikely. Such a decision would require a qualified majority—and the Nordic countries will never support a ban on a product that demonstrably replaces cigarettes.  There are signs that several countries which currently ban nicotine pouches may be forced to rethink their position. The EU has previously called for more pragmatic regulatory frameworks. Yet just one more country is still missing to secure a blocking minority against a ban.  This is where the game hardens.  More and more governments are now signalling that the TTD is being held hostage until the Commission accepts a minimum tax level of €25 on nicotine pouches. A political horse‑trading exercise. This also stands in direct conflict with the major tobacco companies’ desire to get […]

Pouch Patrol has conducted a full review of all EU Member States’ positions in the negotiations on the new Tobacco Tax Directive (TTD). The conclusion is clear: the EU is facing one of its most deeply divided negotiation landscapes in years. The differences in proposed tax levels for nicotine pouches are so extreme that a […]

Another compromise proposal on the EU’s new Tobacco Tax Directive (TTD) has now been circulated from Brussels. But behind the word “compromise” lies, in practice, the same fundamental failure as before. What we are seeing is unchanged, excessively high tax levels on risk-reduced nicotine products—now merely disguised by slightly softer transition periods. Markus Lindblad, Head […]

The World Health Organization claims it wants to save lives. In practice, it does the opposite.  – In its latest report on global tobacco use, WHO deliberately blurs crucial distinctions between deadly combustible smoking and significantly less harmful nicotine products. All nicotine is lumped together as a single threat. The result is not public health policy, but an ideological tripwire, says Markus Lindblad, Head of Communications at Pouch […]

The European Commission has set its sights on nicotine pouches. In a new proposal on EU‑wide tobacco taxation, Brussels wants to force Sweden to raise the tax on nicotine pouches by around 500 percent – despite the products being tobacco‑free and despite Sweden having the lowest smoking rate in the EU.  The EU’s new Tobacco Taxation Directive is not a technical adjustment. It is a frontal attack on smoke‑free nicotine products – and on Sweden’s successful harm‑reduction model.  For the first time, nicotine pouches are singled out as a product category […]

The Swedish experience of harm reduction is well known, but what is happening in the rest of the world? As global institutions mark 20 years of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, countries are finding out the answer to an important question: Does tobacco control work better when it embraces harm reduction […]

Pouch Patrol today announces the first-ever Ostrich Award, a satirical prize for policymakers who ignore clear evidence on tobacco harm reduction. This year’s recipient: EU Health Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi, who recently declared:  “The WHO has observed that nicotine-containing products, in particular e-cigarettes and nicotine sachets, generate substances known to cause cancer and expose users to […]

A new report from the Nordic Council contains compelling evidence that smokeless nicotine products—such as snus and nicotine pouches—are not a gateway to smoking. In fact, they appear to be helping drive smoking rates down across the region. What is the Gateway Hypothesis? The hypothesis originated in the 1970s–1980s in drug policy debates and was […]

The 2025 E-Cigarette Summit on Science, Regulation, & Public Health brought together leading scientists, public health experts, and policymakers to explore the latest evidence and debate on nicotine, vaping, and tobacco harm reduction. This year’s (13th!) agenda included sessions covering regulatory developments, scientific advances, and public health impacts. It marks the last year of the […]