News - Clearing the Air

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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…

News

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…

News

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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COP Day 3 bulletin: GATC lies about harm reduction and quitting

The Global Alliance for Tobacco Control (GATC) - which coordinates anti-nicotine NGOs at the WHO’s Conference of the Parties on tobacco control - has written to all COP delegates falsely claiming that “the evidence on the use of e-cigarettes as cessation aid…

News

Echo chamber? More than half of WHO’s accredited tobacco control NGOs underwritten by Mike Bloomberg

At least 15 of the 29 NGOs were either created by Michael Bloomberg’s foundations, Bloomberg Philanthropies or the Bloomberg Family Foundation; or receive significant funding from his foundations, according to an investigation by The Firebreak, calling into question the extent to which…

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COP 11: The “dirty ashtray” award goes to…New Zealand?

New Zealand - which has some of the world’s lowest smoking rates and highest cigarette taxes - has been given the “dirty ashtray” award by the Global Alliance on Tobacco Control (GATC) in a move that brings into stark focus just how…

Science News

Study linking vapes to COPD faces criticism for flawed methods

Italian researchers argue that a recent meta-analysis overstated the evidence linking vaping to COPD. They say most studies failed to adjust properly for smoking history - the main cause of COPD. The critics highlight “reverse causation,” where people with COPD may take…

News

Ireland weighing nicotine pouch ban, says chief medical officer

Ireland’s Department of Health is considering new restrictions on nicotine pouches as part of its efforts to curb nicotine use among young people. The proposal, which could extend existing tobacco control laws, comes as health officials debate how to balance youth protection…

News Science

Denmark sees dramatic drop in youth smoking rates as vaping increases

Cigarette smoking among Danish youth has fallen to its lowest level on record, according to a new national survey from Aarhus University’s Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research. The UngMap 2025 study, based on a nationally representative sample of 2,166 respondents aged…

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