Legislation & policy

The New Zealand government plans to increase the legal smoking age every year – effectively banning the sale of cigarettes for those born after 2008.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency is inviting manufacturers to submit products for approval to be prescribed. This means that the U.K could become the first country in the world to prescribe e-cigarettes licensed as a medical product, to lower the smoking prevalence.

After a number of German courts started taking action against nicotine pouches, an appeal has been initiated on Pouchgenuss. “Für den freien Verkauf von nicotine pouches in Deutschland”, which translates to “For the free sale of nicotine pouches in Germany”, wants to prevent the white, tobacco-free alternative to cigarettes being taken off the German market. Together we can now make a difference!

On the 18th of October, 100 specialists in nicotine science, policy and practice called on the World Health Organization (WHO) to modernize its approach to tobacco policy by adopting the harm reduction perspective.

A new report by David Sundén, Doctor of Economics from Stockholm School of Economics, finds that the ban on snus (oral smokeless tobacco) in the EU has a highly negative effect on public health. The research looks at the relationship between smoking, mortality from smoking-related illnesses and snus as a risk-reducing alternative.

Nicotine pouches are a less harmful alternative to smoking. Switching from cigarettes to nicotine pouches could save hundreds of thousands of European lives every year. But how should these products be regulated? Will the EU ban nicotine pouches as is the case for Swedish snus?