The pitfalls of banning tobacco and nicotine
Mention prohibition and most people will think of the United States’ ill-fated attempt to eradicate the health and social problems associated with alcohol consumption by banning the manufacture, transportation and sale of intoxicating beverages in the 1920s.
Rather than achieving the desired effects, the experiment fueled a wave of illegal manufacturing and smuggling while spawning some of America’s most notorious crime syndicates. In 1933, the federal government acknowledged defeat and repealed the law.
Given prohibition’s poor track record, it’s tempting to conclude that the measure has been consigned to the dustbin of history. Surely, modern policymakers would steer clear of such a crude and ineffective tool? But as became clear during a panel discussion at the recent Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum (GTNF), prohibition has been making a bit of comeback lately, even if its contemporary proponents are careful to avoid the term. As moderator Flora Okereke of BAT pointed out, 15 years ago, the concept existed only at the fringes of tobacco control. “Today it is mainstream,” she said. “At some point in the not-too-distant future, tobacco and even nicotine could be outlawed.”
Okereke’s panel included experts with a variety of professional backgrounds: Christopher Snowdon, head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs; Abrie du Plessis, trade law consultant; Kgosi Letlape, president of the Health Professions Council of South Africa and president of the Association of Medical Councils of Africa; Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ rights group Forest; and Riccardo Polosa, full professor of internal medicine at the University of Catania and director of the Center of Excellence for the Acceleration of Harm Reduction.
During a skillfully guided, hour-long debate at the Hay-Adams hotel in Washington, D.C., they examined the drivers and consequences of the new prohibition movement and offered suggestions on how tobacco regulation might more sustainably evolve to embrace harm reduction instead of prohibition.
Tobacco Reporter – 2023-01-01.
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