Tobacco Asia

8 tobaccoasia Issue 1, 2026 January / February From the Associate Editor © 2026 October Multimedia Co Ltd. TOBACCO ASIA (ISSN 2773-8701) is published bi-monthly by October Multimedia Co Ltd in January, March, May, July, September, and November. Printing and distribution of TOBACCO ASIA is overseen by October Inter Co. Ltd., Thamatee Building, 159/19 Soi Ramkhamhaeng 110, Ramkhamhaeng Road, Sapansung, Bangkok 10240 THAILAND. E-mail: info@octobermultimedia.com, web: www.tobaccoasia.com, WeChat/WhatsApp: +19178430000 Representation for Tobacco Asia Asia/Middle East/Australasia Southern Europe/Eastern Europe China/Italy/Spain/France October Inter Co. Ltd. Thamatee Building, 159/19 Soi Ramkhamhaeng 110, Ramkhamhaeng Road, Sapansung, Bangkok 10240 Tel +66 812861103. info@octobermultimedia.com WhatsApp/WeChat: +19178430000 The Americas/Benelux/UK Germany/Scandinavia Switzerland/Austria Cardinal Media LLC 2 Glenfield, Barrington RI 02806 United States Contact: Emerson Leonard Tel +1 917 680 1050 edl@octobermultimedia.com Printing/Distribution overseen by: October Inter Co. Ltd. Published by: October Multimedia Co., Ltd. Printed in Thailand © 2026 October Multimedia Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Bylined or initialed articles represent the opinion of the author. All articles published in Tobacco Asia or www.tobaccoasia.com are copyrighted. No part of this publication may be reproduced or in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system without written permission. Subscriptions to TOBACCO ASIA magazine Subscription Rates: 1 Year – US$75.00 2 Years – US$145.00 3 Years – US$210.00 For inquiries, contact: malisa@tobaccoasia.com Secure online payment: https://www.tobaccoasia.com/subscribe Nattira Medvedeva Associate Editor Not too long ago, tobacco control supposedly had a simple goal: reduce the harm caused by smoking. The main tools implemented toward this goal were familiar—higher taxes, tougher regulations, and public messaging meant to push people away from cigarettes. However, over the years the anti-tobacco ideology and measures taken became more ex- treme and prohibitionist. Lately, however, it seems a core tool of tobacco control is los- ing its punch. Tax hikes—long seen as the most reliable way to cut smoking—are running into limits. In many countries, higher prices no longer push smokers to quit. Instead, they push consumers toward cheaper alternatives, cross-border purchases, or illegal products. Governments collect less revenue, enforcement struggles, and smoking rates don't fall as expected (see our story on p.18 for a more detailed analysis). At the same time, misunderstandings about nicotine continues to confuse. Many adults, in- cluding health care practitioners and policymakers, still believe nicotine itself causes cancer and heart disease (find out more on p.26). As we know, nicotine's not the culprit here, but nevertheless, that misunderstanding influences consumer behavior. When smokers think all nicotine products carry the same risk, switching away from cigarettes doesn't seem to be a worthwhile effort. Policy often reinforces this confusion. Cigarettes, vapes, heated tobacco, and oral nicotine are increasingly being regulated as if they pose equal risks. But, that framing ignores a basic fact—most smoking-related harm comes from burning tobacco, not from nicotine itself. Perhaps we may allow ourselves to be cautiously hopeful that the situation is changing, al- beit slowly. At the recent COP11, more countries started to push back against WHO FCTC's anti-everything-tobacco-or-nicotine approach. Governments including Albania, North Mace- donia, Serbia, New Zealand, The Gambia, Mozambique, and Saint Kitts and Nevis openly supported harm reduction and evidence-based regulation, rather than parroting the dogma set out by WHO. The divide is now visible, and it's growing. None of this means nicotine is harmless or that regulation should disappear. Youth protec- tion still matters. Enforcement still matters. But so does realism. When taxes stop working, when consumers misunderstand risk, and when lower-risk options are treated no differently than cigarettes, policy starts to work against its own goals. Two months after COP11, the question is no longer whether tobacco control needs to evolve. It's whether policymakers are willing to accept that the tools that worked in the past may no longer be enough—and that if they want to achieve their goal of reducing smoking today, it will require more than just raising prices and repeating old warnings.

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