COP11 has concluded, but the debate around nicotine regulation is far from settled. While delegates left Geneva without adopting aggressive new restrictions, the WHO’s long-standing hostility toward tobacco harm reduction remains firmly in place. The organization continues to frame non-combustible products, such as nicotine pouches, e-cigarettes, and heated tobacco, through the same lens as conventional…
I’m delighted to welcome María del Carmen Ordóñez López as GINN’s Legal Advisor. María del Carmen brings more than two decades of strategic legal, compliance and governance experience across multinational corporations, start-ups and specialist advisory roles, and will be a pivotal voice in shaping our legal and regulatory work on novel nicotine policy and harm-reduction…
Saudi Arabia’s successful Public Health experiment Backed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi company Badael has rapidly scaled its harm reduction initiative using its flagship DZRT tobacco-free nicotine pouch. Since its 2023 launch, the program has helped nearly 400,000 smokers move away from combustible tobacco, with 140,000 reportedly quitting nicotine altogether. This progress contributes…
A recent study published in JAMA Network Open provides important insights into the biological effects of nicotine pouches, adding much-needed clinical evidence to an area often dominated by speculation. The findings reaffirm a central message in tobacco harm reduction: while nicotine is addictive, the health risks associated with non-combustible nicotine products are dramatically lower than…
What a night! Great conversations, new connections, and plenty of collaboration with colleagues from across the nicotine pouch sector. 🗓️ 6:30–9:30 PM, Fri 14 November 📍 Central Stockholm We can’t wait to welcome you — come along, meet the community, and be part of the conversation. Want to join us? Drop us a line at…
At this year’s Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI) Tobacco and Nicotine Conference, Acting Director for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), Dr. Bret Koplow, delivered a defining keynote — not marking a first, but rather a culmination of the FDA’s evolving stance on tobacco harm reduction (THR). The address…
Nicotine has been vilified for decades, often conflated with the devastating health effects of smoking. Yet modern medical research continues to show that nicotine itself is not the cause of smoking-related cancers or cardiovascular disease. Instead, it is the combustion of tobacco, the burning process that releases thousands of toxic chemicals, that drives most smoking-related…
Momentum is building in the United Kingdom toward a coherent and proportionate framework for regulating tobacco-free nicotine pouches. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, currently progressing through Parliament, and the surrounding debates in both Houses have positioned the UK to establish a model that balances youth protection with adult harm reduction, consistent with NHS guidance and…
GINN has formally contributed to the European Commission’s Consultation on the revision of Council Directive 2011/64/EU, which governs excise duties on tobacco and related products. We welcome the inclusion of nicotine pouches in this revision, provided they are recognized as a distinct, clearly defined category separate from traditional tobacco products. A science-based approach is essential.…