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6 ways public health messaging is missing the mark

Public health communication around nicotine is full of mixed messages. From blurring key scientific distinctions to issuing guidance that treats very different products as interchangeable, several high-profile campaigns risk confusing the very people they aim to inform. Here are six examples of…

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The Flat Earth Argument: Derek Yach on WHO, Bloomberg, and the Smoke-Free World

In part 2 of this conversation, Peter Beckett speaks with Dr Derek Yach, former Head of Tobacco Control at the World Health Organization and founding president of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World. They discuss the moment his thinking diverged from the…

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Economists tell EU: equal taxes on vapes and cigarettes erase incentives to switch

Experts warn new tax plan could push smokers toward illicit tobacco instead of safer alternatives Economists warned EU lawmakers today that taxing vaping products and other smoke-free alternatives at the same rate as cigarettes could discourage smokers from switching to less harmful…

News Science

Youth vape risk measures may be overstated, suggests new study

Only 51.9 per cent of youth who said they might vape went on to try it within four years. 28.8 per cent of youth who said they definitely wouldn’t vape tried it anyway. The measure did not reliably identify which young people…

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Belgium plans sweeping vape flavour ban amid policy gridlock

Belgium’s federal government is preparing a sweeping ban on all vape flavours except tobacco, a move Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke says is necessary to stem rising youth vaping. But the announcement lands as Vandenbroucke and his party face mounting questions about stalled…

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Stanton Glantz claim vapes “increase harm” – but the science doesn’t back him up

Stanton Glantz, a high-profile figure in tobacco control, has published a new blog post claiming that vapes “increase harm” and should not be considered a harm reduction tool. The post, titled ‘E-cigarettes increase harm to smokers, so should not be promoted as…

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Smoking hits record lows in the U.S. and Nordics as vapes and nicotine pouches take over

Smoking is reaching historic lows across Finland, Iceland, and the United States, with new data showing rapid declines driven by the rise of alternative nicotine products such as vapes and nicotine pouches. Across all three countries, traditional smoking is being displaced by…

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Europe agreed not to ban safer nicotine products. Now Denmark wants to ban them anyway.

Denmark and the European Commission want to bind the whole of the EU to banning vapes and nicotine pouches, according to negotiating documents circulated this evening and seen by Clearing the Air. The full document is available here. The ban - which…

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NZ health minister commended for science-based vaping stance

New Zealand’s Associate Health Minister Casey Costello has been praised internationally for rejecting what she called a “ridiculous” ranking that penalises the country despite its world-leading decline in smoking rates. Minister rebukes global index Minister Costello criticised the Global Tobacco Industry Interference…

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