The Stagnation of Policy Innovation in Tobacco Control

  • Eight million smokers die globally every year and alternative nicotine solutions save lives. Yet policy innovation remains stagnant in the science of harm reduction and regulatory approaches
  • We investigate how reducing global dependence on tobacco can meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Specifically, the United Nations has proposed SDG 3 to improve public health, most of which can be addressed by a reduction in tobacco use.
  • Also the tobacco industry contributes 84 million metric tons of CO2 emissions annually, a reduction in tobacco cultivation will contribute to achieving SDG 13 on climate action and SGD 6 on clean water.
  • The global crisis of 8 million tobacco-related deaths annually and 1 billion projected deaths this century may be prevented by science-based innovations, such as Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), improved pharmaceutical Nicotine Replacement Therapies (NRTs), and tobacco-free nicotine, among others.