Across Europe, policymakers continue to express concern that fragmented nicotine regulation is leaving young people exposed to risk. Recent commentary has pointed to uneven national rules governing nicotine pouches, vapes, and other novel products as evidence that current policy approaches are failing to protect youth. While these concerns are legitimate, fragmentation itself is not the…
A GINN response to “The war on snus” The Cyprus Mail article “The war on snus” highlights a regulatory paradox that is becoming increasingly familiar across Europe: nicotine pouches are treated as an urgent public-health threat, while combustible cigarettes remain legally available, widely sold, and socially embedded. From a GINN perspective, the issue is not…
Executive context Innovation in nicotine pouches has largely focused on formulation variables, nicotine strength, pH, buffering systems, flavours, and moisture content. These factors shape nicotine delivery and user perception and are central to regulatory assessment. However, a growing body of clinical, observational, and design-science evidence indicates that oral tolerability and mucosal outcomes are also strongly…
Regulation, clinical context, and evidence-based harm reduction Cigarette smoking continues to impose a disproportionate health burden in Appalachia, a region marked by persistently high smoking prevalence, elevated rates of cardiovascular disease and cancer, and long-standing socioeconomic barriers to cessation support. Despite decades of tobacco control efforts, combustible cigarette use remains entrenched in many Appalachian communities,…
A Deep Dive into the Future of Novel NicotineWe wish to share the latest episode of the Tobacco Asia / InterTabac podcast, where GINN’s Director Shem Baldeosingh joins Thomas Schmid for a wide-ranging conversation on the evolution of safer nicotine products and the global landscape. In this episode, Shem reflects on GINN’s journey since our…
Recent analysis published in The Lancet Public Health reinforces a long-standing but often overlooked reality in tobacco control: nicotine use is not a monolith, and public-health outcomes depend critically on how nicotine is delivered. Policies that fail to distinguish between combustible and non-combustible products risk undermining smoking reduction goals, particularly among adults who continue to…
Nicotine pouch performance is often discussed almost exclusively in terms of formulation. Nicotine concentration, pH, buffering systems, flavour chemistry, and moisture balance dominate both technical development and regulatory review. These elements are undeniably important. However, emerging evidence and user experience suggest that formulation alone does not fully explain how nicotine pouches are tolerated, used, or…
🇨🇳 China Confirms Nicotine Pouches Are Now Under the State Tobacco Monopoly China’s move to classify nicotine pouches within the state tobacco monopoly is now confirmed not only by specialist regulatory trackers but also by 2Firsts, which has published detailed reporting on the shift https://lnkd.in/gnx-jTTd The direction of travel is clear: a domestic market increasingly…
Youth “addiction” to nicotine pouches and other smoke-free nicotine products is increasingly invoked as a political shorthand, often without reference to how addiction is actually defined in modern clinical science. This matters, because the DSM-5 framework, the global reference standard for diagnosing substance-related disorders, does not define addiction by frequency of use alone, nor does…
Expectations around the European Union’s next revision of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD3) have continued to shift, but a clearer picture is now emerging. Based on Commission planning documents, specialised monitoring services, and recent political signals, the most realistic scenario is that a formal Commission proposal will arrive in 2026, with any new regulatory obligations…