What's right thing to do? Been with IBM, Greenpeace, ASH, Cabinet Office, Environment Agency, UN in Sudan, Welsh Government, DECC and now my own Counterfactual.
London or Derbyshire, UK
Joined February 2011
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One hundred specialists call for WHO to change its hostile stance on tobacco harm reduction - new letter to FCTC delegates published.
clivebates.com/one-hundred-s…
#COP9 @DrTedros
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Clive Bates retweeted
Note that this review is very cautious in estimating the toxicant exposure reductions when switching from cigarettes to e-cigs. e.g. E-cigs emit no CO. Never smokers often have an exhaled CO=2ppm. Smokers often have a CO level of 16ppm. So a reduction to 2ppm should be 100%. But here it is estimated as only 87.5% reduction, not accounting for background/endogenous levels. Despite this cautious approach, the study demonstrates large reductions in a wide range of toxicants when switching from cigarettes to e-cigs.
A new systematic review and meta-analysis published in Archives of Toxicology, covering 60 studies, found substantial reductions in exposure to #harmful #chemicals among #smokers who switched completely to e-cigarettes.
link.springer.com/article/10…
It’s almost if the restrictive laws are the point of “tobacco control”, not the public health outcomes and certainly not the distraction of unintended consequences, which are the main consequences.
"We find no evidence that these laws reduce overall youth ENDS use, frequent use, initiation, or cig smoking. These null results are consistent with online purchasing accounting for a small share of youth ENDS acquisition even prior to policy adoption."
sciencedirect.com/science/ar…
Clive Bates retweeted
1,180 cigarettes, which can cause cancer, have been authorised by the FDA since January 2021, but @ACSCAN are far more concerned about the 65 less harmful products which don't. Don't donate to such incredible #Charlatans. #WorseThanBigTobacco
The cowards and reality deniers at the American Cancer Society (@ACSNews and @ACSCAN) hid my post pointing out their misinformation and that they no longer seem to care about cancer.
Here it is again.
xitter.cf/Clive_Bates/status/211…
You can burn your reputation, but you can't hide it.
The cowards and reality deniers at the American Cancer Society (@ACSNews and @ACSCAN) hid my post pointing out their misinformation and that they no longer seem to care about cancer.
Here it is again.
xitter.cf/Clive_Bates/status/211…
You can burn your reputation, but you can't hide it.
Since 2021, the @FDA has authorized 65 new flavored tobacco products—including e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches that appeal to kids.
That’s 65 times @FDATobacco has put Big Tobacco’s profits ahead of protecting kids. We’re keeping score.
A confident, truth-telling organisation would engage its critics, stand up its claims, and make a reality based case.
But that’s not @ASCAN is it…
Clive Bates retweeted
Caffeine gets a coffee shop. Nicotine gets a moral panic.
Smoking kills. Confusing nicotine with smoke is indefensible.
My book, The Politics of Acceptable Addiction, is out now. It takes aim at the double standard.
cambridgescholars.com/produc…
Clive Bates retweeted
Foundations and NGOs have been co-opting Palau for years. Here's a 2023 report Packard commissioned about its own, sprawling projects there -- which the report blesses, of course, because it's "bottom up" dontcha know. Yeah, right.
ecologyandsociety.org/vol28/…
Clive Bates retweeted
More junk science about vaping heavily criticised by the Science Media Centre. Sadly, @SkyNews was gullible enough to publicise this drivel. Too many researchers are the new Merchants of Doubt and acting #WorseThanBigTobacco. sciencemediacentre.org/exper…
Well, that's inconvenient.
This 2025-26 survey of ~400k Australians shows daily smoking prevalence at 10.1%, almost double the recent semi-official estimate and far better aligned with the Roy Morgan estimate of 12.1% in 2025.
@Bludn_Gore
@jkelovuori
roymorgan.com/findings/9937-…
I'm posting this for Alan Gor.
"The 2026 Index estimates daily smoking among Australians aged 15 and over at 10.1%, compared with the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s 5.6% estimate."
09algor.substack.com/p/befor…
Cc @jamomartin @drjoesDIYhealth
I am astounded that this absurd Palau-fronted nicotine prohibition initiative is being taken seriously by what appears to be an expanding cult of drug war ideologues. See my brief comment on the LinkedIn post of its leading proponent, @AshOrg
lnkd.in/p/ec_ibsZC
A more detailed account of this initiative:
The Worst Idea in the History of Tobacco Control
clivebates.substack.com/p/th…
People should think about and do what works at a human scale, not hatch grandiose masterplans that will fail on contact with reality. Pragmatism, not posturing.
UN Environment Programme thinks global greenhouse gas emissions should fall by:
18% by 2030
45% by 2035
69% by 2040
That pathway is technically, economically and politically absurd. Millions would die if it were tried.
@UNEP should focus on adaptation.
unep.org/en/news-and-stories…
Conclusion: The stupidest excesses of hubris are to be found in AI research.
Palantir CTO says some AI researchers are taking up smoking because they expect AI to cure cancer
businessinsider.com/ai-resea…
Clive Bates retweeted
ASH is deeply saddened by the death of Dr Murray Laugesen (1935–2026), a smokefree pioneer whose approach was defined by curiosity, scientific scrutiny and empathy. He leaves an immense legacy and helped save countless lives from smoking. ash.org.nz/dr_murray_laugese…
Real public health explained at human scale.
At best, of only passing interest in most of the weird world of tobacco control. At worst, something to mobilise against with billionaire backing.
Very easy to forget after 13 years since stopping 🚬, the frustration/exhaustion of previous years lack of sleep caused by constant coughing via cataarh n phlegm....... symptoms disappeared within a couple of weeks after switching to a Vape.
Other conditions experienced, similarly improved but rather less obviously immediate or apparent.
Clive Bates retweeted
Very easy to forget after 13 years since stopping 🚬, the frustration/exhaustion of previous years lack of sleep caused by constant coughing via cataarh n phlegm....... symptoms disappeared within a couple of weeks after switching to a Vape.
Other conditions experienced, similarly improved but rather less obviously immediate or apparent.
Outstanding take-down of a crazy letter from the clown caucus of 8 health ministers in the EU that want to protect the incumbent cigarette trade by freezing out competition from safer products. Mercifully most ministers declined to sign, so Europe is split.
Eight Ministers Want to Freeze Europe's Smoke-Free Future farsalinos.github.io/en/news…
Clive Bates retweeted
Look at the acceleration in smoking cessation since around 2015. What could it be? Great news for public health that adult smoking prevalence has dropped below 10% for the first time in Britain.
Clive Bates retweeted
🇪🇺Nobody quits smoking because of plain packaging. People quit when they find something better than a cigarette.
Ban the flavours, cap the nicotine, take away the pouches, and you know exactly where consumers will go back to.
worldvapersalliance.com/mark…
