Tobacco ControlPub Date : 2026-08-31DOI: 10.1136/tc-2026-060300
Page Dobbs, Tong Lin, Megan E Roberts
{"title":"Oral nicotine pouch continuity programmes and US college students' intention to use.","authors":"Page Dobbs, Tong Lin, Megan E Roberts","doi":"10.1136/tc-2026-060300","DOIUrl":"10.1136/tc-2026-060300","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Oral nicotine pouch (ONP) use is increasing among young populations. Many ONP brands are using continuity programmes (also called 'rewards' or 'loyalty' programmes), a marketing strategy that offers points for purchase that can be redeemed for prizes. No research has examined whether awareness of ONP continuity programmes is associated with US young adult intention to use or use of these products.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Undergraduate and graduate students (N=764) from a southern US university completed an online survey. Items asked about intention to use and ever use of ONPs. Participants were also asked about their awareness of and participation with ONP continuity programmes. Relationships between awareness of continuity programmes, controlling for covariates, were examined with ever use and intention to use ONPs in the future.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Zyn Rewards (27.7%) was the most recognised ONP continuity programme. Participants most often first learnt about continuity programmes through word of mouth (31.9%) and social media influencers (27.5%). Only 1.2% ever participated in an ONP continuity programme. Gender, fraternity/sorority membership and socioeconomic status were all associated with intention to use ONPs. Awareness of an ONP continuity programme was associated with higher odds of intention (adjusted OR (aOR)=4.79 (2.73 to 8.39)) and ever use (aOR=3.99 (2.62 to 6.08)) of ONPs.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>US college students are aware of ONP continuity programmes, and awareness is associated with intention to use and ever use of ONPs. State and federal agencies are authorised to regulate tobacco marketing, and consumer protections should monitor social media influencers' promotion of ONP continuity programmes.</p>","PeriodicalId":23145,"journal":{"name":"Tobacco Control","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13598897/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148866945","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tobacco ControlPub Date : 2026-08-25DOI: 10.1136/tc-2025-060007
Soha Talih, Thomas Eissenberg, Mario El Hourani, Rola Salman, Rachel El Hage, Nareg Karaoghlanian, Wasim Maziak, Alan Shihadeh
{"title":"Measured and modelled nicotine emissions predict systemic nicotine exposure across sub-ohm and pod-based ENDS.","authors":"Soha Talih, Thomas Eissenberg, Mario El Hourani, Rola Salman, Rachel El Hage, Nareg Karaoghlanian, Wasim Maziak, Alan Shihadeh","doi":"10.1136/tc-2025-060007","DOIUrl":"10.1136/tc-2025-060007","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) can deliver nicotine at levels that rival or exceed cigarettes, shaping both smoking cessation outcomes and the emergence of nicotine dependence in previously nicotine-naïve users. We evaluated whether systemic nicotine exposure is associated with emitted nicotine dose measured in the laboratory and estimated from ENDS device physics.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Across two clinical studies, we compared plasma nicotine boost following ad libitum ENDS puffing sessions with nicotine doses derived by two complementary approaches: (1) analysis of nicotine content in puffing-machine-generated aerosols and (2) physics-based computer simulations.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Across both clinical datasets and three device types, plasma nicotine boost was associated with emitted nicotine dose measured in the laboratory (~40% of variance explained) and with that predicted by a first-principles model of coil heating and liquid vaporisation (~33%), despite not incorporating individual-participant physiological differences.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These results support a mechanistic link between ENDS device parameters and systemic nicotine exposure. Physics-based models may support prospective population-level evaluation of nicotine delivery, including for hypothetical products, for which emissions data are not yet available.</p>","PeriodicalId":23145,"journal":{"name":"Tobacco Control","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13600341/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148819557","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tobacco ControlPub Date : 2026-08-23DOI: 10.1136/tc-2026-060161
Melissa-Jade Gregan, Janine Wiles, Vili Nosa, Erena Wikaire, Peter Adams
{"title":"Tobacco industry interference and WHO FCTC Article 5.3 implementation in Aotearoa New Zealand: A qualitative analysis.","authors":"Melissa-Jade Gregan, Janine Wiles, Vili Nosa, Erena Wikaire, Peter Adams","doi":"10.1136/tc-2026-060161","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/tc-2026-060161","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control requires Parties to protect policies from tobacco industry interference, yet implementation remains weak internationally. Aotearoa New Zealand (Aotearoa NZ) is seen as a leader in tobacco control, yet little is known about its implementation of Article 5.3 protections. This study aimed to understand the nature and extent of implementation of Article 5.3 and the constraints on tobacco industry influence in tobacco control policy processes in Aotearoa NZ.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Data were obtained through interviews (n=21) with current and former members of Parliament, ministers, government officials, political journalists, and public health experts, alongside analysis of key texts.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Aotearoa NZ has not meaningfully implemented Article 5.3, with public health informants arguing that it has been neglected from the start. Politicians were unaware of Article 5.3 obligations and reported limited guidance on industry interactions. These gaps are compounded by non-existent lobbying laws, and government transparency measures that provide limited oversight of lobbying.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Despite the country's reputation for strong tobacco control, Aotearoa NZ's failure to fully implement Article 5.3 leaves its health policies vulnerable to tobacco industry interference. Aotearoa NZ and other parties should introduce legislation to implement Article 5.3 into domestic law and raise awareness of its protections and tobacco industry interference across government to safeguard policy decisions from tobacco industry influence.</p>","PeriodicalId":23145,"journal":{"name":"Tobacco Control","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148809028","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tobacco ControlPub Date : 2026-08-21DOI: 10.1136/tc-2026-060050
Ginga Yamada, Yuki Kuwabara, Aya Kinjo, Hongja Kim, Yoneatsu Osaki
{"title":"Tobacco advertising on TVer, Japan's ad-supported video-on-demand platform: a commercial message content analysis.","authors":"Ginga Yamada, Yuki Kuwabara, Aya Kinjo, Hongja Kim, Yoneatsu Osaki","doi":"10.1136/tc-2026-060050","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/tc-2026-060050","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Exposure to tobacco advertising influences youth smoking initiation and acceptance of tobacco use. The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control mandates comprehensive regulation of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. This study quantified the frequency of tobacco advertisements on TVer, an ad-supported video-on-demand platform.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted a commercial message content analysis of catch-up streaming programmes on TVer, broadcast by four major commercial TV stations (Nippon TV, TV Asahi, TBS and Fuji TV) between 10 and 14 March 2025. Total commercial duration and commercial duration across nine advertising categories (eg, tobacco and alcohol) were measured manually. Measurements were conducted without declaring age and then while logging in with an age of 18 years (under the legal smoking age). The proportion of each commercial category relative to total commercial duration was tabulated for each TV station. Differences across commercial categories across the four TV stations were examined.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Advertisements for heated tobacco products (<i>Ploom</i>) were observed when age was not declared. Tobacco advertisements accounted for 1.2% of the targeted total commercial duration, appearing primarily within variety programmes (comedy sub-genre). No tobacco advertisements were displayed when logged in with an age of 18 years. The appearance of tobacco advertisements varied across the four TV stations.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Tobacco advertisements (<i>Ploom</i>) appeared in commercials delivered via TVer. In the absence of age verification, tobacco advertisements appeared, particularly within variety programmes, indicating potential youth exposure to tobacco advertising. Accordingly, current industry-led self-regulations of tobacco advertising are insufficient in the digital space.</p>","PeriodicalId":23145,"journal":{"name":"Tobacco Control","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148798250","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tobacco ControlPub Date : 2026-08-17DOI: 10.1136/tc-2026-060246
Jeroen L A Pennings, Yejin Park, Anne Havermans, Reinskje Talhout
{"title":"E-liquid flavour ban in the Netherlands: fewer notified e-cigarettes, more with a tobacco flavour.","authors":"Jeroen L A Pennings, Yejin Park, Anne Havermans, Reinskje Talhout","doi":"10.1136/tc-2026-060246","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/tc-2026-060246","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Since 1 January 2024, the Netherlands has banned all e-liquid flavours other than tobacco in order to discourage e-cigarette use among young people. This ban is based on a restrictive list of 16 permitted flavour-determining ingredients that only enable the production of a tobacco flavour. To evaluate the impact of the flavour ban on the Dutch e-cigarette flavour landscape, we determined how the number of newly notified e-cigarette products and their composition have changed since the ban came into effect.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We analysed product data for e-cigarette products notified to the Dutch part of the European Common Entry Gate system's tobacco and e-cigarette product database from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2025. Based on their ingredients, products were assigned to four groups, namely those containing (1) any non-allowed flavourings; (2) any ingredients with insufficient flavour information; (3) allowed flavourings only and (4) no flavourings.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In 2025, there was a 61% decrease in the total number of newly notified e-cigarette products compared with 2020. Furthermore, there was a 38% increase in the percentage of products containing only allowed flavourings and a 56% decrease in those containing non-allowed flavourings.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings support the overall goals of the flavour ban, namely to discourage the attractiveness and use of e-cigarettes while keeping them available for people who smoke tobacco as an alternative. Additional studies on attractiveness, consumer behaviour and sales will be needed to fully evaluate the effect of the flavour ban.</p>","PeriodicalId":23145,"journal":{"name":"Tobacco Control","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148798219","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tobacco ControlPub Date : 2026-08-10DOI: 10.1136/tc-2025-059734
Cheneal Puljević, Isabel Meciar, Germaine Lai, Kate Jordan, Alice Holland, Coral E Gartner
{"title":"Scoping review of international public education and media campaigns aimed at reducing demand for, raising awareness of and discouraging the purchase or sale of illicit tobacco and/or vaping products.","authors":"Cheneal Puljević, Isabel Meciar, Germaine Lai, Kate Jordan, Alice Holland, Coral E Gartner","doi":"10.1136/tc-2025-059734","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/tc-2025-059734","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>This scoping review aims to identify public education or mass media campaigns aimed at discouraging purchasing or selling illicitly traded tobacco and/or vaping products and to summarise the characteristics of the campaigns.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>We searched six databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Scopus, PsycINFO and CINAHL) for peer-reviewed articles and conducted targeted Google searches to identify relevant campaigns implemented in English-speaking countries. Eligible campaigns aimed to lower demand for, raise public awareness of and/or deter purchasing or selling of illicit tobacco/vaping products.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We identified 28 campaigns; of these, 15 were funded and distributed by government/health charity organisations, nine by tobacco companies, three by Crime Stoppers chapters and one by a consumer lobby group. 24 focused on illicit tobacco products (12 government/health charity), three on tobacco and vaping products (all government/health charity) and one on vaping products only (lobby group funded). Most government/health charity (n=10) and industry-funded (n=6) campaigns highlighted the association of illicit products with organised crime. Industry-funded campaigns featured messaging on lost tax revenue (n=5) and damages to legitimate businesses (n=5). The <i>Keep IT Out</i> campaign from England was the only campaign evaluated for effectiveness and resulted in increased public awareness and hotline reports.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Our findings highlight the critical need for future research to identify effective campaign messages, especially those that avoid unintentionally reinforcing the use of illicit tobacco/vape products, increasing awareness of where or how to access these products, implying that taxed products are safer or legitimising the tobacco industry and its retail channels.</p>","PeriodicalId":23145,"journal":{"name":"Tobacco Control","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148707691","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tobacco ControlPub Date : 2026-08-10DOI: 10.1136/tc-2026-060198
Katelyn Jison Yoo, Neil Schluger, Ki-Suck Jung
{"title":"Illusion of choice: re-evaluating nicotine addiction in the Korean legal landscape.","authors":"Katelyn Jison Yoo, Neil Schluger, Ki-Suck Jung","doi":"10.1136/tc-2026-060198","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/tc-2026-060198","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":23145,"journal":{"name":"Tobacco Control","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148707744","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tobacco ControlPub Date : 2026-08-04DOI: 10.1136/tc-2026-060085
Austin Landini, Christopher Lowenstein, Michael F Pesko
{"title":"Patterns of specialty tobacco retail locations and visitor counts in the USA.","authors":"Austin Landini, Christopher Lowenstein, Michael F Pesko","doi":"10.1136/tc-2026-060085","DOIUrl":"10.1136/tc-2026-060085","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Specialty tobacco retailers, including vape shops, smoke shops and cigar shops, are important sources of tobacco access, yet there is no reproducible national database documenting their locations and consumer engagement.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We develop a national database of specialty tobacco retailers in the USA by combining Google Maps business listings as of June 2024 with Advan unique visitor count data, updated to May 2024. We match approximately 20 000 businesses across both databases and observe roughly 50 million monthly visits to these locations. We then perform two cross-sectional analyses examining specialty retailer density and visits at the census tract and county levels.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We find strong clustering of all types of specialty retailers in low-income areas and fewer shops per capita in rural areas. We find that smoke and vape shop density is negatively correlated with both educational attainment and population share of racial and ethnic minorities. Cigar and smoke shops were less common in areas with high shares of young people aged 15-24. Additional businesses are positively associated with total consumer visits, with evidence of spillover effects across shop types.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study provides the first reproducible national assessment of specialty tobacco retailer locations linked to consumer visit data, offering a new foundation for monitoring retail access and informing tobacco control policy.</p>","PeriodicalId":23145,"journal":{"name":"Tobacco Control","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13480287/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148702244","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tobacco ControlPub Date : 2026-08-03DOI: 10.1136/tc-2026-060362
Andrew Seidenberg, Sairam V Jabba, Maciej Lukasz Goniewicz, Sven Eric Jordt
{"title":"Combustible tobacco-free cigarettes containing a nicotine analogue: a dangerous design to counter smoking regulations?","authors":"Andrew Seidenberg, Sairam V Jabba, Maciej Lukasz Goniewicz, Sven Eric Jordt","doi":"10.1136/tc-2026-060362","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/tc-2026-060362","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":23145,"journal":{"name":"Tobacco Control","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149040716","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tobacco ControlPub Date : 2026-08-03DOI: 10.1136/tc-2026-060117
Sungmin Park, Naeun Kang, Sung-Il Cho, Heewon Kang
{"title":"Public insurer litigation and tobacco industry liability: lessons from the National Health Insurance case in the Republic of Korea.","authors":"Sungmin Park, Naeun Kang, Sung-Il Cho, Heewon Kang","doi":"10.1136/tc-2026-060117","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/tc-2026-060117","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":23145,"journal":{"name":"Tobacco Control","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148697957","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}