Alastair Cohen - Clearing the Air

News

WHO fails to read its own treaty

The World Health Organisation is urging its members to classify “harm reduction” as a tobacco industry narrative, despite the concept being classified as a tobacco control strategy in its own treaty. A draft agenda for the Conference of the Parties to the…

News Science

‘Ethics Abandoned’: Pregnant women given free cigarettes and told to keep smoking in low-nicotine cigarette trial

In a revelation that has stunned public health observers, pregnant women in a government-funded U.S. clinical trial are being given free cigarettes and explicitly instructed to continue smoking as part of research intended to support a federal nicotine reduction mandate. The trial,…

Legislation

The true cost of the EU tax grab

The European Commission wants to hike taxes of safer nicotine products, a move which will cause enormous pain for consumers, most of whom just want to stop smoking. In an announcement on 16th July, the EU’s executive proposed hikes of at least…

News

Swedish finance minister hits back at EU tax on nicotine pouches

Elisabeth Svantesson, the Swedish Minister of Finance, has hit back at plans - first revealed on Clearing the Air - to make levies on tobacco and nicotine products part of the EU budget. “Leaks suggest that the EU Commission will next week…

News

EXCLUSIVE: vaping and nicotine tax to be part of the EU budget

The long awaited EU Tobacco Excise Directive - which, as we revealed on Clearing the Air - will include massive increases on taxes for vapes and nicotine pouches - could be designed to directly finance the EU budget, according to leaked documents…

News

NEW: Brussels anti-vape groups barred from lobbying with public money

Letters referred to in this article can be viewed here and here Both major organisations leading the charge against safer nicotine products in the EU have both received letters from the EU Commission demanding that they stop lobbying officials using public money.…

News Legislation

EXCLUSIVE: BRUSSELS TO RAISE TAX ON VAPES, POUCHES AND IQOS

Update 12/06/2025: The leaked impact assessment is available to download here The European Commission is planning to require massive tax hikes on vapes, pouches and heated tobacco products like iQOS, according to a leaked impact assessment seen by Clearing the Air.…

News

NEW: EU Finance Minsters push for new vape and pouch taxes

Finance Ministers from 15 EU Member States have urged Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to update the EU’s tobacco and nicotine tax framework “without delay”, slamming the EU’s executive for failing to “deliver on the expectations of EU Member States and…

News

And the award goes to: WHO rewards purveyors of bad policy and misinformation

The WHO has today announced its 2025 “World No Tobacco Day Awards” winners. We wondered how many were responsible for misinformation and bad policy on safer products. Turns out, quite a few. Given that the Director General of the WHO himself is…

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