GFN News

The WHO’s misleading claims are fueling dangerous misconceptions about nicotine and safer alternatives to smoking. From misinformation about EVALI and popcorn lung to claims about nicotine causing cancer, these false narratives can have real consequences — even pushing people back towards smoking. What does the scientific evidence actually say, and who pays the price when public health messaging i...

Prohibition always extracts a price. In Australia, Tim Andrews argues those paying the price are smokers denied access to safer alternatives and the community, which must live with flourishing illicit markets, violence driven by organized crime, and a massive loss of tax revenue. Joining RegWatch on GFN at the Global Forum on Nicotine in Warsaw, Poland, the Director of Consumer Issues at Americans...

Does regulation itself shape what people believe about nicotine and vaping? And why do so many people believe that nicotine causes cancer and other diseases? In this GFN Science Lab presentation, economist Fernando Briseño explores the relationship between tobacco regulation and public perceptions of nicotine risk. Drawing on a multinational survey experiment conducted in Mexico, Argentina and Chi...

Canada’s approach to nicotine pouch regulation has created a system that puts pharmacists at the centre of access to authorised products — while unauthorised pouches remain widely available. Has the policy achieved its intended goals, or has it created new problems? In this GFN Science Lab presentation from GFN 2026 in Warsaw, pharmacist Todd Prochnau examines Canada’s pharmacy-centric regulatory...

Poland is tightening its regulation of nicotine pouches and e-cigarettes — but are rising taxes and expanding restrictions creating unintended consequences? At GFN26 Ewelina Woike-Reguła and Robert Boneczko examine Poland’s rapidly changing regulatory and fiscal landscape, from steep excise duty increases to proposed flavour restrictions on nicotine pouches and a possible ban on disposable e-cigar...

Why is smoking declining in New Zealand while Australia’s approach is fuelling a dangerous black market? In this excerpt from GFNTV’s interview at GFN 2026 in Warsaw, Australian GP Dr Joe Kosterich contrasts New Zealand’s approach to tobacco harm reduction with Australia’s restrictive policies on safer nicotine products.

Is regulation keeping up with the evidence? As the European Union considers the future regulation of non-combustible tobacco and nicotine products, an important question emerges: is the available scientific evidence being assessed fully, consistently and transparently? In this Science Lab presentation, Carrie Wade examines the EU’s Better Regulation Framework and the evidence used in the recent ev...

Dr. Joe Kosterich first took an interest in nicotine vapes when patients who struggled to quit smoking quit thanks to vaping. Then Australia made the products they relied on nearly impossible to buy legally. Shot on location at GFN 2026 in Warsaw, the Australian GP explains how restrictions drove vape sales into the black market, where consumers face unregulated products and criminal gangs fight f...

What does the current evidence tell us about the cardiovascular impact of novel tobacco and nicotine products? In this presentation from Global Forum on Nicotine 2026, Dr. Thomas Nahde discusses a narrative review examining cardiovascular health and the potential impact of switching from combustible cigarettes to non-combustible nicotine products. The review brings together 221 publications, cover...

France has recently prohibited nicotine pouches. Jean-François Etter discusses what prohibition could mean for consumers, quality control, illicit markets and criminal groups and why the demand for nicotine pouches may not simply disappear.

What Does Real-World Use Tell Us About Blu? | #GFN26ScienceLab by GFN.TV

A clear and worsening division within public health has turned the debate over nicotine into a moral panic, with potentially dire consequences. Shot on location at GFN 2026 in Warsaw, Poland, longtime nicotine researcher and former University of Geneva professor of public health Jean-François Etter examines the irrational push to prohibit safer nicotine products. He explores public health groupthi...

A harm reduction approach should not stop at those who are still smoking. What about the millions who have already moved to safer nicotine products - and still depend on access to them? If public health is about reducing harm, shouldn’t their voices count too?

Which oral nicotine products carry the greatest risk to oral health? In this GFN Science Lab presentation, Helen Cowie examines how the shift from smoking to smokeless and oral nicotine products changes the way tobacco harm reduction should be assessed. The discussion explores the current evidence on oral health risks across different product categories, including combustible cigarettes, tradition...

A safer alternative exists - but why is it so often treated differently? When harm reduction depends on meeting people where they are, where do smokers fit in? The answer may challenge some long-held assumptions about nicotine, choice, and public health.

How does the scientific evidence on heated tobacco products (HTPs) compare with what we know about cigarette smoking? In this presentation from the GFN Science Lab, Dr. Leonie Price takes a look at multiple layers of evidence surrounding heated tobacco products — from aerosol chemistry and toxicant emissions to biomarkers of exposure, environmental exposure, and the behavior of smokers who switch...

In the global war on nicotine, many are pushed to the margins. It’s not just smokers who no longer count. Adults who’ve already made the switch to safer nicotine no longer count. Independent vape retailers, consumer advocates and accomplished scientists and researchers are shunned and sometimes silenced. Even the proven real-world consequences of prohibition no longer count. Shot on location at th...

Banning products doesn’t necessarily eliminate demand. Prohibition can push consumers toward black markets, reduce regulatory control, and create unintended consequences for public health. Timur Abdullaev explored prohibition, tobacco harm reduction, nicotine policy, and the challenges of trying to reduce smoking through increasingly restrictive policies. He also examined why nicotine, tobacco, an...

Nasvay is a traditional smokeless tobacco product widely used across Central Asia, particularly in Kyrgyzstan. Often produced on a small or household scale, it sits in a complex space between tradition, affordability, tobacco use and harm reduction. This presentation explores nasvay through the experience of Renat, a producer from Kyrgyzstan who demonstrates how the product is made and explains it...

Does prohibition protect public health - or can it make the problem worse? At #GFN26, Brent Stafford speaks with Alex Wodak and Ian Fearon about the unintended consequences of prohibition, the rise of illicit nicotine markets, and the growing divide over tobacco harm reduction. The conversation also examines a contentious issue within public health: why, according to Fearon, good-quality science o...

Nicotine Pouches in Scandinavia - How Sales Have Changed From 2018 to 2025? | #GFN26ScienceLab by GFN.TV

It’s no secret Big Tobacco’s legacy has complicated the case for tobacco harm reduction within public health. But long-standing distrust of the industry is also a barrier for many within the traditional drug harm reduction community, limiting support for safer nicotine products. Shot on location at GFN 2026 in Warsaw, Poland, Gaby Zabala Alemán explains how the National Harm Reduction Coalition is...

Can governments enforce their way out of the illicit market crisis? Brent Stafford speaks with Asa Saligupta and Rohan Pike about prohibition, enforcement and the growing illicit nicotine market.

Understanding what consumers think, feel, and do is essential to generating robust evidence on tobacco and nicotine products. In this GFN Science Lab session, Christelle Chrea discusses the role of consumer-reported outcome measures (CROMs) in tobacco and nicotine research, and the challenges involved in measuring consumer perceptions, behaviours, and experiences. The session explores the distinct...

What happens when a government bans safer nicotine alternatives instead of regulating them? In this GFN Voices episode from #GFN26, Brent Stafford speaks with Dr. Mariana Hoyo (Mexico) and Gina Reyes (Colombia) about how two neighboring countries have taken very different approaches to vaping—and what those policies mean for public health.