Modern Nicotine and Tobacco Policy: Where is the Public Health Frontier?

Over the past decade, governments worldwide have introduced an array of policies to reduce the health burden of tobacco and nicotine use. Typically targeting product characteristics, prices, or access, these regulations range from taxes to limits on nicotine concentration, to packaging requirements and marketing restrictions, to prohibitions on flavors or even complete sales prohibitions for certain products. Evidence suggests that consumers often substitute between various nicotine and tobacco products when policies make one less accessible or more expensive, while firms respond with new products or marketing to evade restrictions. Given these dynamics, determining which combination of policies will best reduce the harm from tobacco and nicotine use is exceedingly complex, but also vital for public health. This talk will give an overview of modern nicotine and tobacco regulations, including what the evidence suggests about their intended and unintended effects, in order to clarify regulatory opportunities with the greatest potential to promote public health.