With COP10 approaching, tobacco harm reduction (THR) advocates are being called upon to stand up before the World Health Organization's Conference of the Parties.
The upcoming WHO COP10 conference in Panama will address regulation of nicotine products, which could impact SNUS, nicotine products and other alternatives to smoking, posing a threat to less harmful alternatives to smoking. In Sweden, SNUS use is known to have led to the lowest rates of smoking and tobacco-related diseases in the EU, but does the Swedish government have a chance to influence COP10?
Bengt Wiberg, a prominent figure in the harm reduction debate, has led the ‘EU for SNUS’ initiative to challenge the EU’s ‘unscientific’ SNUS policy. He recently revealed that the Swedish delegation at COP10 would “toe the EU line” and when he asked a journalist what this would look like, he found that the EU documents relating to this were top secret.
bad COP
The closed nature of the COP10 meeting, which excluded journalists, researchers, industry and civil society, was always considered scandalous. Potential decisions, such as banning nicotine pouches or restricting flavours, could have dire consequences for the 140 million people globally who have switched to lower-risk nicotine products, with the risk of falling back into smoking. And it is certainly unacceptable that the EU subscribes to this model.
The Swedish government, with support from harm reduction advocates, is being urged to take a stand at COP10 to prevent potential obstacles to a smoke-free tradition. Similarly, UK MP Andrew Lewer recently highlighted the importance of standing up for tobacco harm reduction at COP10, highlighting the WHO’s disregard for scientific evidence supporting smoking alternatives and pushing for restrictive regulations.
A position rooted in politics, certainly not science
In line with experts in the fields of science, medicine and smoking cessation, Wiberg stressed that it is not nicotine itself that is causing harm, but the smoke and tar in cigarettes. He argued that if more people adopted nicotine use as seen in Sweden , many lives could be saved from premature death each year.
Sadly, like the WHO, the EU’s stance on safer nicotine alternatives is rooted in politics rather than science. Wiberg stresses that the reluctance to lift the EU snus ban is motivated by prestige, as revoking the ban would require decision-makers to admit their mistakes. He highlights the positive impact of snus on public health in Sweden, which has some of the lowest rates of tobacco-related cancers and deaths from tobacco-related diseases.
UK Shocks THR Experts
Sadly, the UK, another success story in the use of nicotine replacements, has just announced some vaping restrictions that are likely to backfire on local smoking rates. “The ‘think of the children’ argument has permeated the UK government. Who cares about adult nicotine users, especially those who still smoke? If a 10-year-old drives a Tesla and crashes and dies, do you ban Teslas or do you make sure that 10-year-olds without driving licenses don’t drive Teslas?” Wiberg told Vape Post.
Thankfully, the founder of “EU for Snus” concluded, there seems to be some positive news coming out of the US. Bloomberg, known for its tobacco harm reduction efforts, seems to be embracing the idea of using snus and nicotine pouches to quit smoking. They recently released a documentary about the success Sweden has had in quitting smoking using these products.
