@alexwodak.bsky.social @drbfreeman.bsky.social @squigglyrick.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/09algor/...

Hope-booster from colleague and chum, Arielle Selya. substack.com/@joegitchell...

What difference does vape ban actually make? Demand just supplied by black market! The vaping ban, ineffective in practice, has led to a surge in smuggling of e-cigarettes into India, contributing to health risks and substance abuse concerns among youths. www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/vap...

Professor Nancy Rigotti likened nicotine pouches to NRT noting their lack of heating & their slow uptake into the bloodstream. More like having a nicotine lozenge. It doesn’t give quick hit jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

“Smoking is ridiculously deadly; 1:2 people who regularly smoke will die from it. So, you should only try and quit vaping if you are confident that you can do it without smoking cigarettes” @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social @algore09algor.bsky.social @igas2.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

The People Missing From Tobacco Control @alexwodak.bsky.social @drbfreeman.bsky.social @melissasweetdr.bsky.social @squigglyrick.bsky.social @chancethegardener.bsky.social 09algor.substack.com/p/the-people...

Tobacco control focused on kicking tobacco companies in cohones as hard as possible. Reducing smoking related deaths only minor consideration. Blind to disruptive innovations replacing deadly cigarettes @jgitchell.bsky.social

How can harm reduction be so effective and so safe for so many public health issues but be anathema for tobacco?

How can nicotine replacement therapy be so effective and so safe for people quitting smoking but nicotine pouches be anathema for smokers?

My latest thoughts are on Substack. "Harm reduction isn’t about loving nicotine, it’s about surviving smoking" @alexwodak.bsky.social @chancethegardener.bsky.social @melissasweetdr.bsky.social @squigglyrick.bsky.social @drbfreeman.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/09algor/...

US per capita cigarette consumption peaked early 1960s! Serious, irreversible, structural decline. Cigarette as obsolete as video cassettes, CD discs, diesel & coal trains, slide rules, analogue films & cameras @profglantz.com @chancethegardener.bsky.social @jgitchell.bsky.social

Why do So Many Anti-Tobacco Groups Attack Nicotine Vapes - a Product with Few Acute Risks, But Say Nothing About Truly Risky Tobacco Products? Is their dissembling about keeping their organisations alive & healthy? @publichealthaus.bsky.social tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com/2025/12/end-....

Australia’s 2018/19 Budget anticipates $185.2bn revenue from increased cigarette excise but only $118.1bn generated as rest went to illicit cig trade @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social @algore09algor.bsky.social @ianamossyd.bsky.social @igas2.bsky.social @jamomartin.bsky.social @publichealthaus.bsky.social

BAT quotes Brian King @fda.gov on far greater safety of nicotine vapes than combustible cigarettes @chancethegardener.bsky.social @jgitchell.bsky.social @profglantz.com @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social @algore09algor.bsky.social @igas2.bsky.social @ianamossyd.bsky.social @jmenezes.bsky.social

@chancethegardener.bsky.social notes major differences in nicotine policies between Australia & New Zealand

How long will it take before heated tobacco products, nicotine pouches, nicotine vapes & snus finish off combustible cigarettes? 5 years? 10 years? 15 years? @chancethegardener.bsky.social @jgitchell.bsky.social @profglantz.com @crikey.com.au @algore09algor.bsky.social @igas2.bsky.social

Congratulations Australia on making cigarettes, tobacco & vapes de facto illegal in 2025! That’s made them soooo much cheaper! Cheaper cigs means lung cancer now affordable for working class! @publichealthaus.bsky.social @melissasweetdr.bsky.social @theracp.bsky.social @algore09algor.bsky.social

Vape restrictions. Black market. Smoking. Youth uptake.

Overwhelming problem in Australia is strong demand for illicit cigarettes, tobacco, vapes. Supply emerges to feed demand. Higher the penalties or more stringent the enforcement, higher the price of black market goods which also makes them more profitable. See the problem? @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social

Huge fines in Australia for selling illicit cigarettes or tobacco! Really? Tell ‘em they’re dreamin’ @jamomartin.bsky.social @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social @igas2.bsky.social @ianamossyd.bsky.social www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12...

‘Caffeine socially accepted, while nicotine often stigmatized. Both = mild stimulants ⬆️ alertness & can lead to dependence. Neither inherently harmful in non-combustible forms, yet society treats them very differently. This contrast reflects cultural attitudes’ brownstone.org/articles/cof...

Australia’s tobacco control activists got everything they wanted for decades. But when everything turned pear shaped, they pretended obvious severe problems simply didn’t exist. Pride goes before fall. Collapse now inevitable. Simon’s scorn won’t save his reputation @ianamossyd.bsky.social

“the process appears less like an inquiry and more like a policy self-affirmation exercise” @alexwodak.bsky.social @drbfreeman.bsky.social @melissasweetdr.bsky.social @squigglyrick.bsky.social www.aliveadvocacymovement.com/post/nsw-par...

Ironic isn’t it!!?!? @alexwodak.bsky.social @melissasweetdr.bsky.social @squigglyrick.bsky.social

>50% cigs bought in Australia from black market, cost public up to $A11.8 billion/year & impact public health & safety.Illicit tobacco undermines efforts to ⬇️smoking as black market share estimated 55-60%.High excise ➡️⬆️, packs: legitimate now >AU$40, illicit <AU$15 www.1news.co.nz/2025/12/12/b...

We have to ensure it is easy for smokers to access vapes as harm reduction tools! 💜✊️✊🏿💚

Australian states want to cut tobacco taxes to fight the black market. Commonwealth says no. Meanwhile, tobacco is effectively getting cheaper.. just through criminal networks instead of policy. New blog on why the current debate is stuck: edjegasothy.wordpress.com/2025/12/10/i...

We need to ensure the voices of people who use nicotine are at the front of the harm reduction work to ensure health equity! 💜

Two recent surveys of smoking in Australia: one found smoking ⬆️, other found smoking ⬇️.

Agree. Clear analysis Australia’s tobacco control backed cigarette excise into policy bankruptcy @johnquiggin.bsky.social @mikedaube.bsky.social @drbfreeman.bsky.social @melissasweetdr.bsky.social @crikey.com.au @squigglyrick.bsky.social @paulrgregoire.bsky.social @paulbongiorno.bsky.social

This is one of the clearest, most honest analyses of Australia’s tobacco tax disaster I’ve seen. @alexwodak.bsky.social @squigglyrick.bsky.social @melissasweetdr.bsky.social edjegasothy.wordpress.com/2025/12/10/i...

Opposition to tobacco harm reduction is a closed thought system impervious to evidence which contradicts their cult. USSR & satellites was another closed thought system & collapsed suddenly. That’s what will happen to THR denial. @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social @ianamossyd.bsky.social @igas2.bsky.social

To these examples of science going off-the-rails but becoming mainstream temporarily can now add global anti-vape cult. Meanwhile smokers & Big Tobacco rapidly ➡️ from combustible cigarettes to range safer, smoke-free nicotine options heralding inevitable collapse of cult @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social

Implications of facing up to reality of Australian cigarettes & tobacco increasingly supplied by Al Capone while vapes face quasi prohibition with strong demand also met by black market. Chickens coming home to roost @johnquiggin.bsky.social theconversation.com/illegal-toba...

COP11 in Geneva failed to agree on outright ban on nicotine pouches. But European Commission, with Danish EU presidency & others pushed for way to ban nicotine pouches & other safer products. Fact that ban even up for discussion shows how dysfunctional FCTC is snusforumet.se/en/cop11-dys...

Critics warn snus & nicotine pouches could be “gateway” to smoking. But Nordic data challenge this claim. Gateway theory ⬆️use nicotine pouches should ➡️⬆️ smoking. But across Nordic countries, exact opposite occurred: as snus & pouch use ⬆️, smoking declined sharply snusforumet.se/en/new-nordi...

New Nordic report shows snus & nicotine pouches not gateway ➡️ smoking but way out. ⬇️ smoking & ⬆️ smokeless nicotine products, challenging gateway theory. Smokers ➡️snus or pouches, ➡️ to historic ⬇️ in smoking in Sweden, Norway & Finland debunking gateway myth snusforumet.se/en/new-nordi...

@caphra.bsky.social alarmed re doubtful legitimacy WHO tobacco treaty. "The FCTC Secretariat's Deepening Legitimacy Problem", exposes how @who.int’s @whofctc.bsky.social captured by American philanthropist-funded NGOs Press release: bit.ly/4a3qUSj

Problem with this intentionally misleading article is doesn’t tell you results of law enforcement efforts to reduce illicit drugs is expensive failure. Tonnes of drug get through every year. Prices slowly ⬇️. Drugs still readily available @jamomartin.bsky.social www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12...

Really hard understand some well trained researchers who still argue 2025 #vaping nicotine gateway ➡️smoking despite compelling evidence to contrary. What’s really going on here? @jgitchell.bsky.social @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social @ianamossyd.bsky.social @igas2.bsky.social @jmenezes.bsky.social

1/2 “We forecast consumption of smoke-free nicotine products will surpass consumption of combustible products this year [2025]& approach it in revenue & profits by 2035 as smokers continue to convert to reduced risk alternatives” Goldman Sachs 2025 Tobacco harm reduction denialists ➡️ ignominy

Most professionals opposed to tobacco harm reduction have only worked clinically or research on tobacco. But many professionals like me supportive of THR worked on many different kinds of psychoactive drugs & drew conclusions then applied to tobacco @jamomartin.bsky.social @igas2.bsky.social

Nicotine vapes have lots going for them as quit smoking aids. Plenty of evidence of effectiveness. Plus wildly popular as a quit smoking aid. Also, often work as a quit smoking aid when smokers try them out of curiosity with no intention to quit. @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social @igas2.bsky.social

“E-cigarettes are an appropriate cessation option and can replace pharmacotherapy” @alexwodak.bsky.social @drbfreeman.bsky.social @melissasweetdr.bsky.social www.medscape.com/viewarticle/...

Rapidly deteriorating mess from Australia’s sky high cigarette excise. Boosting smokes through lower prices in black market. Would you like some violence with that? Gifts that Ideology keeps on giving @jamomartin.bsky.social @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social @igas2.bsky.social x.com/ChrisEconomi...

Continuous line = Australian cigarette excise 1972-2025; dotted line = forecast if excise had been continued at previous rate from ~2010 @johnquiggin.bsky.social

Australia’s extremist anti tobacco & anti vape policy produces stupendous unintended consequences but can’t be changed for some weird reason. “Who you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?" Chico Marx @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social @ianamossyd.bsky.social @igas2.bsky.social @jamomartin.bsky.social

“Murray Watt can deny the evidence all he likes. But denial does not change reality; it just guarantees the problem gets worse.” @alexwodak.bsky.social @melissasweetdr.bsky.social @squigglyrick.bsky.social www.aliveadvocacymovement.com/post/how-aus...

Excellent policy brief on Australia’s deeply flawed opioid treatment program. Well worth reading. www.harmreductionaustralia.org.au/opioid-treat...

Commentary tells it like it really is: Bloomberg funded jihad against vapes & other safer, smoke free nicotine options is ideology vs evidence. Disgraceful. #Harmreduction @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social @igas2.bsky.social @algore09algor.bsky.social @ianamossyd.bsky.social brownstone.org/articles/the...