GFN•TV: News and Interviews

In the global war on nicotine, many are pushed to the margins. It’s not just smokers who no longer count. Adults who’ve already made the switch to safer nicotine no longer count. Independent vape retailers, consumer advocates and accomplished scientists and researchers are shunned and sometimes silenced. Even the proven real-world consequences of prohibition no longer count. Shot on location at the Global Forum on Nicotine in Warsaw, Poland, GFN organizer Paddy Costall reflects on 13 years of organized resistance to the moral crusade against safer nicotine.

Featuring:
PADDY COSTALL
Event Organizer, Global Forum on Nicotine
gfn.events

Banning products doesn’t necessarily eliminate demand. Prohibition can push consumers toward black markets, reduce regulatory control, and create unintended consequences for public health. Timur Abdullaev explored prohibition, tobacco harm reduction, nicotine policy, and the challenges of trying to reduce smoking through increasingly restrictive policies. He also examined why nicotine, tobacco, and smoking should not be treated as synonymous — and what happens when they are.

Nasvay is a traditional smokeless tobacco product widely used across Central Asia, particularly in Kyrgyzstan. Often produced on a small or household scale, it sits in a complex space between tradition, affordability, tobacco use and harm reduction.

This presentation explores nasvay through the experience of Renat, a producer from Kyrgyzstan who demonstrates how the product is made and explains its place in everyday life. The discussion looks at why people turn to nasvay when cigarettes become too expensive, how its use varies across different parts of Kyrgyzstan, and why it remains largely unregulated.

This video was produced by Knowledge-Action-Change within a grant from the Global Action to End Smoking, Inc. (“Global Action”), a US nonprofit 501(c)(3) private foundation. Global Action had no role in the planning, production or execution of this video.

What happens when public health loses sight of harm reduction? Evidence should come before stigma. Safer choices should be easier - not harder to access. But when nicotine, regulation, and the tobacco industry enter the conversation, politics and morality can quickly complicate the picture. Can we put the evidence first and focus on reducing harm?

Does prohibition protect public health - or can it make the problem worse?

At #GFN26, Brent Stafford speaks with Alex Wodak and Ian Fearon about the unintended consequences of prohibition, the rise of illicit nicotine markets, and the growing divide over tobacco harm reduction.

The conversation also examines a contentious issue within public health: why, according to Fearon, good-quality science on tobacco harm reduction can face resistance while weaker research can gain widespread attention

Nicotine pouches are rapidly reshaping the nicotine market—but what does the data actually tell us about this shift?

In this GFN Science Lab presentation, Marina Murphy explores how consumer purchasing patterns have changed across Scandinavia between 2018 and 2025, revealing a striking transformation in the relationship between nicotine pouches and traditional oral products such as snus.

It’s no secret Big Tobacco’s legacy has complicated the case for tobacco harm reduction within public health. But long-standing distrust of the industry is also a barrier for many within the traditional drug harm reduction community, limiting support for safer nicotine products. Shot on location at GFN 2026 in Warsaw, Poland, Gaby Zabala Alemán explains how the National Harm Reduction Coalition is moving the conversation forward through bilingual resources and ten online modules designed for peers, social workers, nurses and people who smoke.

Featuring:
Gaby Zabala Alemán
THR Education & Engagement Project Manager
National Harm Reduction Coalition
@HarmReduction harmreduction.org

Can governments enforce their way out of the illicit market crisis?

In this interview, Brent Stafford speaks with Asa Saligupta and Rohan Pike about the consequences of prohibition, the limits of enforcement, and whether tougher government action can truly curb the growing illicit nicotine market.

As restrictions tighten and enforcement efforts intensify, the black market continues to evolve. What is driving its growth, and could current policies be making the problem worse?

Understanding what consumers think, feel, and do is essential to generating robust evidence on tobacco and nicotine products. In this GFN Science Lab session, Christelle Chrea discusses the role of consumer-reported outcome measures (CROMs) in tobacco and nicotine research, and the challenges involved in measuring consumer perceptions, behaviours, and experiences.

The session explores the distinction between descriptive measures, which capture observable behaviours such as product use and frequency, and psychometric measures, which assess underlying constructs such as risk perception, dependence, and other cognitive, perceptual, and affective dimensions.

Is nicotine really the substance that causes smoking-related disease? Or has decades of misinformation blurred the line between nicotine and smoke? Dr Mohamadi Sarkar discusses one of the most misunderstood topics in tobacco control: the difference between the risks of combustible cigarettes and smoke-free nicotine products.