RegWatch by RegulatorWatch.com

The FDA recently issued new draft guidance clarifying how the agency evaluates whether a flavored nicotine vaping product is appropriate for the protection of public health. But while the agency says it’s providing clarity, the new framework may do little to change the outcome for the U.S. vaping industry. In this episode of RegWatch, regulatory attorney Azim Chowdhury breaks down how FDA’s new gu...

The UK’s ban on disposable nicotine vapes demonstrates the many misbeliefs surrounding the “gateway” theory are thriving. But isn’t the theory that youth e-cig use is a gateway to smoking de-bunked? According to Dr. Arielle Selya it is and there’s no room for doubt. Guest: Dr. Arielle Selya, Behavioural Scientist, PinneyAssociates RegWatch on GFN.TV (Rewind) Produced by Brent Stafford Original Air...

Tobacco control promised bans and restrictions on e-cigarettes and other novel nicotine products for COP10, the Conference of the Parties to the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. But instead, frustrated by a handful of countries calling for a harm reduction approach to tobacco use, the global health regulator punted. Guests: Lindsey Stroud, Dir. Consumer Center, Taxpayers Protection A...

Nicotine regulation in the United States has entered a strange phase. The FDA says it’s protecting public health. But in practice, it’s blocking safer nicotine products while leaving deadly cigarettes on the market. In Part 1 of this RegWatch special, independent scientist Dr. Ian Fearon breaks down the mechanics behind that contradiction. From the overwhelming volume of PMTA applications to the a...

With an estimated 7 million smokers out of a population of 19 million, the Eastern European country of Romania has a lot of work to do to help its citizens quit the deadly habit. Instead, Romania plans to enact a new excise tax that would double the cost of safer nicotine products, like vaping. Guest: Alex Gogoana, President, ACPAN, Consumer Assoc. of Nicotine Products, Romania RegWatch on GFN.TV...

What happens when ideology meets science? Look at the debate over nicotine vaping products for the answer. Just a decade ago tobacco control made great strides towards eliminating cigarette smoking. But in a bizarre effort to undermine nicotine vapes, public health is now contorting science and pushing people back to smoking. Guest: Dr. Ian Fearon, Director, Independent Research Scientist RegWatch...

Where’s the parade for all the people who quit smoking thanks to nicotine vapes? This is the question Janine Timmons wants tobacco control bureaucrats to answer when they gather next month in Panama for the World health Organization’s COP10 conference. She’s afraid attendees will continue to dig for the worst possible excuse to ban vaping, when they should be celebrating its success in helping smo...

Mexico’s ban on nicotine vaping leaves consumers caught in the crossfire. While the “tobacco wars” narrative is obsolete, it continues to cause damage, says physicist and tobacco harm reduction advocate Dr. Roberto Sussman. While the tobacco industry today is no longer the villain it once was, public health campaigners continue to wage war, striking disruptive technologies like nicotine vapes that...

A spike in U.S. youth vaping rates back in 2018 sparked a worldwide moral panic over teen vaping. But the so-called “epidemic” was short-lived. In just 4-years, U.S. teen vaping fell over 60% to a historic low in 2023. It’s good news for everyone except those campaigners who profit from panic. Guest: Michelle Minton, Senior Analyst, Reason Foundation RegWatch on GFN.TV (Rewind) Produced by Brent S...

Canadian tobacco harm reduction advocate and nicotine vape retailer takes a stand against anti-vaping critics at home while preparing to take on the WHO at the upcoming FCTC COP10, the Conference of the Parties in Panama, this November. Guest: Maria Papaioannoy-Duic, Vaping Activist, Canada RegWatch on GFN.TV (Rewind) Produced by Brent Stafford Original Airdate: November 10, 2023 Watch GFN Intervi...

Canadian flavour bans were sold as a public health win, but the data says otherwise. In this episode of RegWatch, economist Dr. Michael Pesko breaks down new research examining the real-world impact of provincial bans on flavoured nicotine vaping products. Using retail sales data from across Canada, Pesko and his co-authors found that nicotine vape sales fell by roughly 30 percent after provincial...

While the United States of America is ground zero for the anti-vaping propaganda and misinformation that poisoned worldwide public perception of vaping, it’s also home to a solid and relentless vaping advocacy community pushing back against the anti-vaping hordes. How are they doing? Find out in this episode of GFN Interviews. Guest: Allison Boughner, Vice President, American Vapor Manufacturers /...

There is a particular piece of information you are not supposed to talk about. You certainly can't promote it. And never depend on public health to acknowledge it. What is it? Nicotine is not carcinogenic; when consumed outside of a cigarette, it is benign. Likely no more harmful than caffeine. According to harm reduction consultant and developmental neurobiologist Charles Gardner, nicotine could...

For decades, tobacco control lectured smokers to quit or die. But when smokers quit using safer nicotine, they were chastised and demonized for doing it the “wrong” way. That contradiction now defines U.S. nicotine policy. In this episode, tobacco harm reduction advocate Skip Murray responds directly to comments from FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, whose rhetoric dismisses data, elevates anecdote,...

There is too much emotion driving public policy on e-cigarettes, says leading tobacco control researcher Dr. Jasjit Ahluwalia. A physician, public health scientist, and professor at Brown University’s Schools of Public Health and Medicine, Dr. Ahluwalia has deep experience researching health disparities and smoking cessation and nicotine addiction in African-American smokers. He has been continuou...

“Shoddy” and “flawed.” That’s how Trump’s FDA Commissioner, Marty Makary, describes the National Youth Tobacco Survey, the CDC’s flagship youth surveillance system and the very dataset the FDA has relied on for more than a decade to justify vaping crackdowns, public panic, and sweeping prohibitionist policy. The problem? The NYTS no longer shows an epidemic of teen vaping. It shows a collapse. Tee...

Tobacco control has no sympathy for the smoker, says Samrat Chowdhery tobacco harm reduction expert and consumer activist. He says there has to be a more humane way to tackle the tobacco problem and tobacco control needs to start thinking more like drugs control. Guest: Samrat Chowdhery, Journalist, THR Consumer Activist RegWatch on GFN.TV (Rewind) Produced by Brent Stafford Original Airdate: Sept...

Tobacco harm reduction activist and award-winning African filmmaker discusses unheard narratives around safer nicotine products, smoking cessation, and tobacco control. Guest: Emmanuel Mwape, Award Winning Filmmaker, THR Activist / K•A•C Global THR Scholar, Zambia RegWatch on GFN.TV (Rewind) Produced by Brent Stafford Original Airdate: September 1, 2023 Watch GFN Interviews every second Friday at...

Editor and co-founder of Drink and Drugs News discusses the difficulties of tackling smoking and how many people working in the drug harm reduction field don’t see it as a problem. Guest: Claire Brown, Editor & Co-founder, Drink and Drugs News Magazine RegWatch on GFN.TV (Rewind) Produced by Brent Stafford Original Airdate: August 18, 2023 Watch GFN Interviews every second Friday at GFN.TV Sup...

There’s no debate allowed on vaping in Australia, says Dr. Colin Mendelsohn, founding chairman of the Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association and practicing tobacco treatment specialist. Tobacco control is “impervious to evidence” and quick to cancel anyone who speaks to the positives of vaping. Guest: Dr. Colin Mendelsohn, Fnd. Chair. Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Assoc. / Academic, Res...

America’s tobacco policy has turned self-destructive. Safer nicotine products are demonized and restricted while combustible cigarettes remain widely available. Watch Part 1 (only on GFN.TV). In Part 2 of this RegWatch interview, Michelle Minton of the Reason Foundation moves past diagnosis and into consequences. Minton explains how the FDA’s PMTA regime didn’t merely regulate vaping—it wiped out...

Tom Miller has shaped American tobacco policy for more than 40 years. As the longest-serving attorney general in U.S. history and a principal architect of the Master Settlement Agreement, Miller has spent decades fighting Big Tobacco and advancing public health. Now, in Part 2 of a two-part RegWatch and GFN.TV special, he brings his unmatched authority to the most contentious issues in U.S. nicoti...

DAY #5 | Live from Geneva, Switzerland - RegWatch special coverage of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance’s Good COP 2.0, the tobacco harm reduction counter-conference to the World Health Organization’s COP 11. Good COP 2.0 unites 37 experts from 22 countries to separate fact from fiction and confront the misinformation shaping global health policy. Live Streamed: November 21, 2025 Produced by Brent...

DAY #4 | Live from Geneva, Switzerland - RegWatch special coverage of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance’s Good COP 2.0, the tobacco harm reduction counter-conference to the World Health Organization’s COP 11. Good COP 2.0 unites 37 experts from 22 countries to separate fact from fiction and confront the misinformation shaping global health policy. Live Streamed: November 20, 2025 Time: 8:00 AM CET...

DAY #3 | Live from Geneva, Switzerland - RegWatch special coverage of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance’s Good COP 2.0, the tobacco harm reduction counter-conference to the World Health Organization’s COP 11. Live Streamed: November 19, 2025 Produced by Brent Stafford https://bit.ly/3LKWI4l Episode supported by DEMAND VAPE Make RegWatch happen: https://support.regulatorwatch.com #RegWatch #VapeNew...