Explore the evidence and arguments around reducing harm from smoking through changes in products and behaviour. Coverage focuses on comparative risks and the harm-reduction approach, rather than every story about nicotine.
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Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) analysed data from the 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey to assess nicotine product use among middle school (ages 11 to 13) and high school students (ages 13 to 18).
The research, published in scientific journal The Lancet, shows that reducing smoking levels to under five per cent (when a country can officially be declared ‘smoke free’) would increase global life expectancy by one year for men and by 0.2 years for women.
The Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) says the proposed legislation undermines the country’s goal of becoming ‘smoke-free’ (defined as a smoking rate of under five per cent) by 2035, as it withdraws an important aid for smokers wanting to quit.
Founded in 2016, organised three important vape summits in France and co-founded the European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (ETHRA) umbrella group.
Ireland’s new tax on vapes puts smokers’ lives at risk and is a “setback in the fight against tobacco”, according to international health experts.
Currently there is no upper limit on the amount of nicotine allowed in pouches, a tobacco-free product that is placed between the lip and the gum.
Martin Cullip, International Fellow at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, has been a leading commentator on tobacco and vaping policy since 2008, with contributions to Spiked and Filter Magazine.
Until now, there has been no excise duty on vapes in the country. Now, there will be a vape tax of 50 cents per millilitre (ml) of e-liquid. The hike is due to come into force from the middle of 2025.
A survey of over 1000 vapers shows that a massive 85 per cent are former cigarette smokers. Due to the proposed vaping ban, 52 per cent fear they may revert back to the deadly habit.
Sairah Salim-Sartoni has 16 years’ experience as a stop smoking advisor in the UK; first for the National Health Service and then for local authority stop smoking clinics. She went on to work for Juul Labs on scientific engagement, and now consults with both the public and private sector on smoking cessation and tobacco harm reduction.
The European Union (EU)’s move to ban vaping outdoors alongside smoking “is not driven by science or what is best for public health”, a leading vape advocacy group has said.
Smoking rates in New Zealand are set to dip below five per cent, putting it on the brink of being declared officially ‘smoke free.’
