Michelle Minton is a senior policy analyst at the Reason Foundation specializing in consumer policy, covering regulatory issues around gambling, tobacco harm reduction, cannabis legalization, alcohol, and nutrition. The author of numerous studies, her analyses have been published and cited in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and USA Today and peer-reviewed journals, and Michelle regularly appears in news media to discuss the unintended effects of laws designed to save adults from their own choices which not only conflicts with the principle of individual liberty, but often the goals of public health. She holds a BA from Johns Hopkins and an MSc from the University of New England.
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GFN.TV Interviews #79 | SUICIDAL POLICY | Michelle Minton and America’s War on Safer Nicotine
9 Jan 2026
America’s tobacco policy has turned self-destructive. Safer nicotine products are demonized and restricted while combustible cigarettes remain widely available. In this GFN interview, Michelle Minton of the Reason Foundation explains how fear, ideology, and institutional incentives replaced evidence in U.S. tobacco control—pushing consumers back toward smoking and undermining one of the greatest public-health opportunities of our time.
Featuring:
MICHELLE MINTON
Managing Director, Drug Policy Reason Foundation
reason.org
@michelleminton