By Joseph Magero Kenya is on the brink of a pivotal decision in its tobacco control journey. The Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill 2024, now under review by the Senate, is poised to introduce long-overdue regulation of new nicotine products, specifically nicotine pouches, e-cigarettes, and other smokeless alternatives that have until now existed in legal limbo.…
India’s tobacco landscape is uniquely complex and deeply rooted in social, regional, and cultural practices. This narrative review examines how tradition, yes, but also inequality and economic factors, shape tobacco use, and what that means for policy. Deep Roots: Tobacco as Tradition and Livelihood Tobacco in India isn’t new, it’s woven into rituals, social ceremonies,…
As the European Commission pushes forward on its most ambitious tobacco tax reform in over a decade, Portugal has stepped up as a strong opponent to key elements of the proposal. The sweeping reform, designed to align with the EU’s Beating Cancer Plan and introduce minimum tax levels on novel nicotine products like vapes and…
When nicotine pouches and vapes are confined to pharmacy sales, governments may intend to protect youth, but the effects can limit access, fuel illicit markets, and undermine harm reduction goals. Canada: Pharmacists Push Back on Expanding Retail Access In late July 2025, a national association of Canadian pharmacists firmly rejected proposals to expand nicotine pouch…
As global tobacco control architecture evolves, there’s growing concern that the WHO is reading its own treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), too narrowly. Ironically, while the FCTC explicitly includes harm reduction strategies in its mandate, WHO has sometimes dismissed reduced-risk nicotine products as part of industry rhetoric to be disregarded. This contradiction…
A shift from prohibition to regulation may soon reshape the French nicotine landscape. France is at a pivotal moment in determining the future of nicotine pouches, a tobacco-free oral product increasingly used by adult smokers as a lower-risk alternative to cigarettes. In 2024, the French government took a prohibitionist stance, notifying a draft decree that…
Nicotine has long been viewed through a narrow lens—often equated with smoking, addiction, and disease. But new research continues to challenge this oversimplification. As the global public health community confronts the rise of reduced-risk nicotine products like pouches, e-cigarettes, and heated tobacco, it is vital that we separate myth from evidence in shaping responsible policy.…
As the science around nicotine delivery evolves, so too must the platforms that publish and shape global understanding of its impacts. Springer’s Internal and Emergency Medicine journal has responded to this challenge with a bold move: the relaunch and expansion of its curated research collection under a new title—“Health Effects of E-Cigarettes, Heated Tobacco and…
While the debate around a unified term for non-combustible nicotine products continues across policy, science, and public health spheres, some of the most illuminating progress has come from within the community itself. In a recent exchange between Australian clinician Dr. Carolyn Beaumont and GINN Science & Standards Committee Chair Dr. Nveed Chaudhary, two leading voices…
By Shem Baldeosingh, Director, Global Institute for Novel Nicotine (GINN) In a global conversation about alternatives to smoking, terminology might seem secondary—but it’s not. Language shapes perception, policy, and access. For too long, inconsistent terms and acronyms have muddled understanding and hampered harm reduction progress. That’s why we’re opening the door to a wider community…
