Legislation & policy

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 […]

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 […]

Poland has notified draft legislation that would ban flavours in nicotine pouches and prohibit all new nicotine products not covered by the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD). While presented as a public health measure, the proposal raises serious concerns. In practice, it risks undermining fundamental EU principles and discouraging smokers from switching to less harmful […]

The European Commission is preparing the next major step in Europe’s tobacco and nicotine policy. The new rules are meant to be based on an evaluation of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD). However, the Commission now admits that the foundation for this work is incomplete and weak. Because around a dozen EU member states failed […]

When an “EU diplomat” quoted by Euractiv claims that Sweden is facing a “last chance” to compromise in order to give nicotine pouches “legal recognition,” it mainly exposes how badly Brussels has misread the political reality in Sweden – and how little it understands the Swedish model. Sweden has already chosen. The cards are on […]

As Austria moves to go almost further than any other EU country by banning disposable vapes, the European Commission and Sweden are now calling a halt – at least for now. In an unusually sharp opinion, Brussels warns that the Austrian proposal risks undermining the EU’s common regulatory framework and further fragmenting nicotine regulation across […]

The follow‑up report on the “Assignment to the Public Health Agency of Sweden and the National Board of Health and Welfare to develop supporting material for monitoring the objective of tobacco and nicotine policy” (S2025/01796) demonstrates clear signs of institutional activism, reflected in a lack of scientific quality and methodological breadth. This response follows a […]

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, […]