France - Clearing the Air

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Sweden health minister attacks France pouch ban as ‘idiotic’

Sweden’s health minister has attacked France’s ban on nicotine pouches as “idiotic”, escalating a row over Europe’s treatment of smoke-free nicotine products. Elisabeth Lann, Sweden’s minister of health, criticised the French ban during an interview on the Swedish health and lifestyle podcast…

Advocacy

Prof. Tikki Pang – WHO’s Harm Reduction Blind Spot.

Former WHO director Professor Tikki Pang says the organisation has developed a dangerous blind spot on tobacco harm reduction. In this interview, he explains why evidence is being ignored and what it would take to force reform. Peter Beckett: Tikki Pang, thank…

News

The Swedish Snus Fight

The question for Sweden is whether it will stand up and fight, or accept a beating from the tobacco control industrial complex. The first rule in any bar fight is to always punch the biggest guy first. These are the rules the…

News

Sweden blasts France’s ‘absurd’ pouch ban

Sweden has hit out at France’s sweeping ban on nicotine pouches, after it emerged Swedes could face criminal penalties for carrying a smoke-free product that is legal at home while cigarettes remain on sale. The row has opened a fresh divide in…

Advocacy

Taxes & Organized Crime: The Hidden Cost of EU Nicotine Policy

When it comes to taxing reduced-harm products, is the EU prioritizing public health, or just ignoring its own rules? We recently sat down with former EU tax official Donato Raponi, at the inaugural World Nicotine Congress, to unpack the complex and often…

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Spain moves to tighten sales channels for vapes and nicotine pouches

Spain’s two main political parties have reached a rare agreement to restrict where vapes and nicotine pouches can be sold, in a move aimed at tightening control over access and distribution. The Popular Party (PP) and Socialist Party (PSOE) backed a non-binding…

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“Plainly absurd and wholly unacceptable” – Swedish Socialists demand Strasbourg travel ban

Swedish Socialists in the European Parliament have demanded that MEPs not travel to Strasbourg while French law levies potential five year prison terms for anyone found in possession of nicotine pouches. The French plan was first reported by Clearing the Air. A…

News

ANALYSIS: The EU will jumpstart its new rules on safer nicotine products next week. Here’s what to expect.

My sources in Brussels tell me that the European Commission’s report on how well its tobacco laws are doing should drop early spring. Maybe even as soon as March. This will be the starting gun in a race to overhaul the bloc’s…

News

French health agency confirms vaping far less harmful than smoking

ANSES says vaping’s health effects are not of equivalent severity to those caused by tobacco Risks from vaping remain lower than those associated with smoking No tumours identified in people who vape Exposure to key toxic compounds reduced by 80% to nearly…

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