From 1 September 2026, New York State will bring tobacco-free nicotine pouches and other qualifying “alternative nicotine products” into its tobacco-products tax system. The headline figure is striking: 75% of the wholesale price. Under guidance issued by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, the tax applies to non-combustible products that contain nicotine…
Questions about the oral health effects of nicotine pouches have become increasingly important as their use expands. The evidence remains limited, particularly when it comes to longer-term outcomes, but a newly published Swedish clinical study adds useful data to the discussion. Published in Clinical Oral Investigations on 22 August 2026, researchers from the University of…
Youth nicotine policy often begins with a straightforward objective: prevent young people from starting to use nicotine. The harder question is how. Smoking, vaping and nicotine pouch use are sometimes grouped together in prevention strategies because they all involve nicotine. Yet young people may encounter these products in different settings, perceive them differently and respond…
The more immediate regulatory story is unfolding in Member States, not in a published EU-wide nicotine-pouch flavour ban Discussion around the next revision of the EU tobacco and nicotine framework is increasingly accompanied by speculation about what the European Commission may ultimately propose for nicotine pouches, including flavours. That discussion needs perspective. There are legitimate…
A new JAMA communication on vaping raises a wider question: how should clinicians, policymakers and public-health professionals talk about nicotine pouches with adults who smoke? How health professionals communicate about nicotine matters. For years, public discussion of nicotine has often struggled to distinguish the harms caused by smoking from the effects of nicotine itself, or…
Taxation remains one of the most established tools in tobacco control. Raising the price of cigarettes can reduce consumption, discourage initiation and contribute to lower smoking prevalence. The World Health Organization recommends that tobacco taxes account for at least 75% of the retail price. The policy question becomes more complicated when the market contains products…
A newly accepted study in BMC Chemistry adds useful evidence to one of the central questions in nicotine regulation: how does the chemical profile of oral nicotine pouches compare with established tobacco products? The study, led by Simone Hadley and colleagues, measured 132 analytes across 11 commercially available oral nicotine pouches, alongside two Swedish snus…
Sweden and Denmark share a border, similar living standards and long-established tobacco-control policies. Both have also set ambitions to create smoke-free societies. Their smoking patterns, however, have diverged. A 2024 report from Smoke Free Sweden, The Great Divide, uses that contrast to make a strong case for Sweden’s approach to tobacco harm reduction. It argues…
As the European Commission’s consultation on the revision of the Tobacco Products Directive and Tobacco Advertising Directive closes today, 14 August 2026, GINN has submitted its response. The review is necessary. But how Europe chooses to modernise its rules will matter as much as the decision to modernise them. The European Commission opened its public…
Smoking rates have fallen across many high-income countries over the past several decades, but the pace of that decline varies considerably. South Korea and Sweden provide a useful comparison. Both countries have strong public-health institutions and long-standing tobacco-control policies. Both have reduced smoking substantially from historical levels. Their current positions, however, are quite different. OECD…