CAPHRA advocates for regulating oral nicotine products to safeguard youth, establish product standards, and maintain enforceable regulations. They recommend creating a separate legal category for nicotine pouches to enhance visibility and control, ensuring compliance through measures like strict age verification and limited marketing. CAPHRA emphasizes that regulation, not prohibition, is key for effective youth protection and control over product quality in South Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. Regulatory frameworks enable authorities to monitor distribution, enforce standards, and deter violations effectively, promoting public health by offering lower-risk alternatives with stringent safeguards.

Public health authorities claim their policies are science-based, yet nicotine regulation is often driven more by symbolism than toxicology. Regulators allow long-term daily nicotine use in patches, gum, and lozenges, while framing nicotine as inherently dangerous when delivered through products like vapes or nicotine pouches. This contradiction is both obvious and difficult to justify. The belief that nicotine itself causes most smoking-related diseases is widespread, but incorrect. While nicotine can cause dependence, the real harms of smoking come from the toxic by-products of burning tobacco, such as tar, carbon monoxide, and fine particulates.

Vaping has shown promise as a smoking cessation aid, especially for individuals with socio-economic hardships. A clinical trial in Australia compared vaping with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) for smoking cessation among low-SES individuals. Results showed participants using vaping devices were three times more likely to achieve continuous abstinence compared to NRT. Vaping was also associated with fewer adverse events. Challenges include long-term vaping risks and limited access to authorized vapes in pharmacies. While vaping can assist in quitting smoking, it is not a guaranteed solution, and relapses are common. Australia's strict regulations aim to tackle illicit vaping and smoking markets. Ongoing research and support are needed to maximize the potential of vaping as a smoking cessation tool.

In Part 2, Bengt Wiberg explains why EU nicotine policy should be science-based, not political. Drawing on Sweden’s success, he challenges cancer myths, youth claims, and makes the case for smart regulation to reduce smoking and save lives.