Briefing Papers

A companion publication to ‘Integrating tobacco harm reduction into drug treatment and harm reduction services’, this Briefing Paper reveals the scale and impact of tobacco-related morbidity and mortality among people who use drugs.

Tobacco harm reduction aims to reduce the health risks faced by people who use high-risk tobacco products, especially cigarettes, by helping them switch to safer nicotine products rather than demanding complete abstinence.

Nicotine itself is not the main cause of the severe diseases linked to smoking; the greatest danger comes from burning tobacco and inhaling smoke, which releases tar, gases, and thousands of toxins.

Like seat belts in cars, harm reduction does not eliminate risk entirely, but it can significantly lower the chances of illness or death. This approach builds on earlier public health successes, such as HIV/AIDS harm reduction strategies from the 1980s.

Used in Scandinavia for more than 200 years, snus is providing smokers in Sweden and Norway with an alternative to combustible cigarettes, but what is it and why is it considered a safer nicotine product? This Briefing Paper aims to provide the answers.

For people living with HIV who are being treated with antiretroviral therapies, those who smoke are more likely to die from smoking-related diseases than from HIV. This Briefing Paper looks at why smoking is so harmful for this group and how tobacco harm reduction could help.

Appearing on the market in the mid-2010s, heated tobacco products include brands such as IQOS, glo and Ploom. This Briefing Paper provides an introduction to this safer nicotine product category and explores their tobacco harm reduction potential.

While snus has provided an increasingly popular off-ramp for those looking to switch away from smoking in Sweden and Norway, Icelanders have taken to a different selection of safer nicotine products, and this Briefing Paper uncovers the story of their rise.

Despite misconceptions about nicotine, due to its association with smoking, this Briefing Paper explains why researchers are increasingly interested in the therapeutic potential of nicotine with respect to Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and mental health.

From 17th – 22nd November 2025, COP11 is taking place in Geneva. This Briefing Paper explores the efficacy of the FCTC in reducing smoking, and considers the challenges posed by COP11 to consumer access to safer nicotine products and tobacco harm reduction progress.

The Eleventh Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is taking place from 17th – 22nd November 2025. This updated guide for COP11 explains what COP meetings are, how they work, and why they are important.

Our latest Briefing Paper explains the importance of tobacco harm reduction as well as providing a range of country case studies demonstrating the power of safer nicotine products to bring down rates of smoking.

This Briefing Paper summarises The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction 2024: A Situation Report, which uses the latest evidence and new data projections to report on the current global THR situation and its potential to rapidly reduce the burden of disease and mortality associated with risky tobacco use.

Tobacco companies spent decades denying any link between smoking and disease, while also trying to develop a ‘safe’ cigarette. This Briefing Paper sets out to tell the story of this quest, looking at the roles played both by those within and outside of the tobacco industry.

This Briefing Paper examines the current global situation regarding the taxation of safer nicotine products and how this relates to product accessibility, before offering evidence-based policy recommendations for optimal taxation strategies in support of harm reduction goals and public health.

While Sweden recently became the first smokefree country, its neighbour, Norway, is also experiencing plummeting smoking rates. This Briefing Paper explores why so many Norwegians have switched from deadly cigarettes to much safer snus.