{"id":5549,"date":"2021-10-14T08:14:17","date_gmt":"2021-10-14T06:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/?p=5549"},"modified":"2021-10-14T08:25:44","modified_gmt":"2021-10-14T06:25:44","slug":"nicotine-regulation-in-europe-it-feels-like-were-going-backwards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/nicotine-regulation-in-europe-it-feels-like-were-going-backwards\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicotine regulation in Europe: \u2018It feels like we\u2019re going backwards\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Despite ample evidence that snus and new nicotine products can save lives by helping people quit smoking, harm reduction advocates and industry experts fear that European policymakers are less informed about nicotine regulation today than they were a decade ago.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of the problem, says Swedish MP Joar Forssell of the Liberal Party, is that tobacco control \u201cpolicy entrepreneurs\u201d are unable to accept that people are making healthier choices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Sweden, where smoking rates are already among the lowest in Europe, tobacco control groups have instead focused on demonising all forms of nicotine. He characterised the shift as an act of self-preservation by groups that must justify their existence in order to continue receiving taxpayer funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe healthier people get, the more extreme health lobbyists become,\u201d he said during a panel discussion in Stockholm examining nicotine regulations and how they can be improved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author and commentator Christopher Snowdon, who explored the EU snus ban in his book The Art of Suppression<\/em><\/a>, blamed \u201djunk science\u201d, scandal-hungry journalists, and the WHO for backsliding in people\u2019s level of understanding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe WHO has become more and more entrenched in its opposition to safer, reduced-risk products,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also singled out the efforts of US billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into promoting misleading information<\/a> about the dangers of nicotine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The need for nicotine regulation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Snowdon then lamented the \u201cgrowing numbers\u201d of doctors, policymakers, and smokers who continue to falsely believe that nicotine on its own causes cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHere we are in 2021 and it really feels like we are going backwards,\u201d he said<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the evolving tactics of tobacco control organisations, industry representatives and policymakers agree that new nicotine regulations are needed in light of the growing popularity of safer nicotine products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s quite clear there need to be regulations for our [nicotine pouch] products,\u201d said Cecilia Kindstrand, Head of European Affairs Swedish Match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> The facts about nicotine <\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her view, the EU\u2019s Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) is the \u201cmost logical\u201d place for that regulation as the consumers using nicotine pouches are the same consumers using tobacco products covered by the current directive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are 100 million smokers in Europe. That\u2019s our market,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henrik Brostr\u00f6m of British American Tobacco (BAT) also expressed his hope that nicotine pouches would be included in a TPD3, adding that regulations are critical to ensuring the long-term sustainability of new products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe biggest risk of all non-regulated products is the fact that they’re not regulated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Nicotine Products Directive?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

However Christofer Fjellner, a former MEP from Sweden who now heads the Environment and Public Health Institute (EPHI)<\/a> think tank which organised the seminar, suggested that perhaps EU policymakers should consider an \u201cNPD1 – a Nicotine Products Directive\u201d if consumers are in fact moving to products which are \u201cpost tobacco\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fjellner went on to stress the importance of giving EU members states room to have different approaches to how the directive is implemented on a national level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important that different member states are able to have their own national conversations about how far they want to go in regulating tobacco and these nicotine products,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Snowdon echoed those sentiments, arguing that regulations should be drawn up to help people quit smoking and encourage the use of safer nicotine products like snus, e-cigarettes, and nicotine pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou should probably be subsidizing these products or giving them away for free as part of your public health service,\u201d he suggested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kindstrand from Swedish Match emphasised the importance of taking risk into consideration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGood lawmaking is regulating according to risk,\u201d she said, adding that the scientific evidence available should lead policymakers to create one set of rules for combustible products and another set of rules for non-combustible products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She expressed her frustration that the European Commission\u2019s \u201cflagship\u201d anti-cancer initiative, the Beating Cancer Plan, fails to even mention tobacco harm reduction<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have to quit or you have to die. There\u2019s no middle ground,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s a problem because you can see from countries like the UK, like Sweden, like Norway<\/a> that if you have alternative products on the market, people with switch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trusting politicians to get nicotine regulation right<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Forssell urged the industry to take steps to get sensible regulation in place before it was too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf the industry doesn\u2019t regulate itself, you\u2019re putting a target on your back for politicians to score very easy points and over-regulate,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brostr\u00f6m from BAT echoed a similar theme, arguing the industry had a \u201cresponsibility\u201d to push for regulations based on evidence and risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen examples that can lead to more draconian measures like bans when there is no regulation,\u201d he said, adding he has \u201ca lot of trust\u201d in politicians to get it right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Snowdon also urged the industry and harm reduction advocates to communicate with politicians about what ideal regulations might look like. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think we should expect the best possible service from our elected politicians,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think we should say, \u2018This is what you should do.\u2019 And even if they might not do it, let\u2019s ask anyway and at least push the conversation in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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