GFN•TV: News and Interviews

What’s really inside nicotine pouches? While these products are often treated as a single category, their composition can vary significantly. In this GFN Science Lab presentation, Lindsay Reese presents one of the largest compositional analyses of nicotine pouches to date, covering 446 fully tested products from 2025 (drawn from more than 500 products analyzed). The research explores key characteristics such as nicotine content, moisture, pH, impurities, heavy metals, and other chemical constituents, offering a detailed look at the diversity of products available across global markets.

What are the fundamental principles of harm reduction and how can they be applied to many areas of human activity? How can tobacco harm reduction be integrated into mainstream practice to reduce the harms of smoking for those most at risk – illicit drug users, those with poor mental health and others marginalised through economic and legal constraints? What are the obstacles to integration and how might we address and overcome these?

Among more than 100,000 people who used heroin in England, smoking accounted for 24% of premature deaths, nearly matching illegal drugs at 28%. Yet smoking remains routinely overlooked within drug treatment and harm reduction services.

Shot on location at GFN 2026 in Warsaw, Poland, David MacKintosh of the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction explains how integrating safer nicotine could deliver a low-cost, high-impact intervention that helps people live longer and healthier lives.

Featuring:
David Mackintosh
Director, Knowledge Action Change
Fmr. Chair of Trustees, Drug and Alcohol Services London kachange.eu

Can bioceramic technology change the future of nicotine delivery - or is it just another marketing buzzword?

In this video, we take a closer look at the science behind bioceramic materials and their emerging role in modern nicotine products. We examine how these materials work, what manufacturers claim they can achieve, and whether those claims are supported by current evidence.

Barriers to the marketing of novel tobacco and nicotine products, such as regulatory bans and restrictions, pose an existential threat to tobacco harm reduction and improving the health and lives of adult smokers. This workshop will take a dive into assessing the science base used to drive restrictions, focussing on several themes which are commonly used to push for stronger regulation or outright prohibition and presenting scientific counterarguments.

What drives tobacco control policy—science or ideology?

In this episode of Tobacco Harm Reduction Unfiltered, Harry Shapiro speaks with Professor David Sweanor about prohibition, tobacco harm reduction, vaping, nicotine policy, and the future of public health. They explore why evidence-based regulation matters, the role of innovation in reducing smoking, and whether prohibition can ever achieve its intended goals.

Watch for an in-depth discussion on tobacco control, smoke-free alternatives, public health policy, and harm reduction from GFN26 – Global Forum on Nicotine 2026.

Can the extensive body of epidemiological evidence on Swedish snus help us better understand the public health potential of nicotine pouches?

In this presentation, the speaker explores how decades of research on snus can inform the scientific assessment of nicotine pouches. The session examines similarities and differences between the two products, discusses the strengths and limitations of existing epidemiological evidence, and considers what current data can tell us about health risks, harm reduction, and population-level impacts.

This presentation is part of the Global Forum on Nicotine 2026 (GFN26), where international experts discuss the latest science, policy, and innovation in tobacco harm reduction.

More than a billion adults globally smoke combustible cigarettes. The harm caused can be reduced if individuals switch completely to smoke-free products. Availability of a wide range of options can accelerate their switching journey. However, access to products is being restricted by either outright bans or flavour restrictions. Whilst aimed at preventing underage use, this overlooks the needs of adults who smoke. This session will focus on a rigorous, evidence-based evaluation of whether product/flavour bans achieve the objective of reducing youth use of smoke-free products, without undermining adult smokers’ access to effective switching options.

Europe is escalating its war on safer nicotine by pursuing new restrictions on vaping, nicotine pouches, flavors, and affordability despite overwhelming evidence that these products can displace smoking.

Shot on location at GFN 2026 in Warsaw, Poland, Dr. Konstantinos Farsalinos describes the policy shift as a “tremendous setback.” He examines why Europe is abandoning common sense, refusing to learn from failed prohibitionist policies, and pushing a market serving millions of former smokers toward illicit trade.

Featuring:
KONSTANTINOS FARSALINOS, M.D.
Cardiologist, Public Health Expert
University of Patras, Greece
University of West Attica, Greece
ecigarette-research.org

This panel explores the future of tobacco harm reduction in Latin America, with a strong focus on Mexico's approach to nicotine regulation, vaping, and public health policy. Experts discuss how prohibition has shaped tobacco control, the rise of smoke-free alternatives, and why evidence-based regulation may be more effective than outright bans.

The conversation examines the historical roots of prohibition in Mexico, the impact of restrictive policies on consumers, and the economic and public health implications of limiting access to reduced-risk nicotine products. Panelists also analyze trends in smoking, vaping adoption, and the challenges policymakers face in balancing regulation, harm reduction, and public health objectives.