After 15 years of fighting for harm reduction, the 2026 Nicotine Summit delivered a message many of us have been waiting to hear:
Not all nicotine products are the same.
FDA officials, researchers, and public health experts spent much of the Summit discussing a continuum of risk, recognizing that combustible cigarettes pose the greatest danger while lower-risk alternatives may have a role for adult smokers.
Meanwhile:
• Nicotine pouches are gaining regulatory acceptance.
• FDA enforcement priorities are evolving.
• The debate is shifting from ideology to science.
The question shouldn't be "How do we eliminate nicotine?"
It should be: "How do we reduce smoking-related disease and death?"
That's the conversation worth having.
#NicotineSummit2026#TobaccoHarmReduction#Vaping#PublicHealth
The vaping timeline is a case study in how regulators can turn a public health opportunity into a public health mess.
📅 2007: E-cigarettes arrive in the U.S.
📅 2015: Youth vaping ~3.5 million
📅 2016: FDA Deeming Rule treats low-risk vaping products like cigarettes.
📅 2019: FDA ignores black-market THC products during the EVALI panic while headlines blame "vaping."
📅 2020: Flavor bans and restrictions push consumers toward illicit products.
📅 2021-2026: Millions of PMTA applications rejected, while cigarettes remain widely available.
The result?
➡️ Millions of Americans now wrongly believe vaping is as harmful—or more harmful—than smoking.
➡️ Adult smokers face fewer legal options.
➡️ The illegal market explodes.
➡️ Cigarettes remain the leading cause of preventable death.
Harm reduction was simple: help smokers switch to lower-risk alternatives.
Instead, the @US_FDA spent a decade regulating vaping as if it were the problem rather than the solution.
#Vaping#TobaccoHarmReduction#HarmReduction#FDA#PublicHealth#SmokingCessation#VapeAdvocacy#THR#SaferNicotine#VapeTruths