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
Stefaan Hendrickx describes the population shift away from cigarettes in Flemish youth - yet another example of what I showed below in US adults.
"Shift in consumption: overall nicotine use among Flemish youth remains stable at 24.3%, but a major shift has occurred: exclusive tobacco smoking has dropped to a historic low, while e-cigarettes and dual use have become the dominant patterns"
stefaanhendrickx.substack.co…
🚨New paper w/ Sooyong Kim & Ray Niaura 🧵👇
We look at trends in adult cig & e-cig prevalence using quarterly NHIS data (2014-24).
In @NTR_Journal doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntag135
Disclosures: This was an unfunded personal project, no oversight by my clients (JUUL, GFN)
Clive Bates retweeted
Evidence sent to the WHO review of nicotine I don’t know whether they want it or even if they’ll accept it, but the prohibitionists have had their say, so I am sending a package of reality-based evidence anyway. Via @Clive_Bates
clivebates.substack.com/p/ev…?
Awesome debate ahead: who is the worst regulator for nicotine products: the U.S. FDA or the EU? Both can claim the title "most useless regulator", but who has the edge? And will it stay that way?
Visit @quitlikesweden to sign up: evening, 2 Dec, Central London. Should be fun.
Introducing @Clive_Bates, our second speaker for “Whose Rules? The US, the EU and the Future of Nicotine Regulation”, a live debate taking place in London on 2 December.
He is a public health and sustainability advocate with a diverse background across the public, private, and non-profit sectors. He led Action on Smoking and Health (UK) from 1997 to 2003 and later worked in senior roles in government, including the UK Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit and the United Nations in Sudan. He is now Director of Counterfactual, a consultancy promoting pragmatic approaches to public health and sustainability.
Find out more and register: quitlikesweden.org/event/lon…
Clive Bates retweeted
The EU’s nicotine law proposal may be delayed. Meanwhile, Health Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi continues to claim novel products pose the same risks as traditional ones.
@Clive_Bates has a blunt assessment of the commissioner’s position.
clearingtheair.eu/en/post/tp…
The evidence briefing embedded in this submission to WHO’s Expert Commission on Drug Dependence should be a useful reference for any consumer or public health advocate for realist tobacco and nicotine policy. Access at the link below.
H/t @jkelovuori
Evidence sent to the WHO review of nicotine
By @Clive_Bates
"I don’t know whether they want it or even if they’ll accept it, but the prohibitionists have had their say, so I am sending a package of reality-based evidence anyway."
clivebates.substack.com/p/ev…
Clive Bates retweeted
Evidence sent to the WHO review of nicotine
By @Clive_Bates
"I don’t know whether they want it or even if they’ll accept it, but the prohibitionists have had their say, so I am sending a package of reality-based evidence anyway."
clivebates.substack.com/p/ev…
Clive Bates retweeted
We are awash in headlines about studies that "confirm a link" between ultra-processed foods and every bad outcome you can imagine. These headlines are the junk food of health reporting. Plenty of sizzle, very little nourishment.
HT: @JAMANetworkOpen
conscienhealth.org/2026/11/0…
Clive Bates retweeted
Belgium banned nicotine pouch sales. People kept buying them. Now its deputy PM wants legal sales. Good. Set age limits and consumer-friendly regulation instead of pretending a ban makes demand disappear. clearingtheair.eu/en/post/be…
Clive Bates retweeted
And they're there to come up with ways on how to replicate the cigarette-sale-increasing model in Turkey and make it worldwide. 🤦♂️
It's the exact opposite of public health.
Clive Bates retweeted
"Incumbent cigarette sellers can also benefit when alternatives face greater barriers. A rule can protect a dangerous incumbent product even when its sponsors oppose the companies selling it."
By @RogerBate3
centerforglobalhealthaccount…
Clive Bates retweeted
More reading by @Clive_Bates:
"The scheduling idea should fail on cursory examination, and the initiative should be stopped before more time and money are wasted. Ideally, the U.N. Secretary-General should have a quiet word with the leadership of Palau."
clivebates.substack.com/p/th…
Clive Bates retweeted
"A #philoligarchy is a system where power and public perception are controlled by an elite group of wealthy philanthropists. Philanthropists are using their foundations and networks of influence to control the issues and policies"
My latest marks the start of a long investigation
The Firebreak is embarking on its most ambitious project: mapping out the foundation influence ecosystem.
@zaruk will articulate the #philoligarch playbook, their networks, the stakeholders they control and which foundations dominate which issues.
thefirebreak.org/p/philoliga…
Clive Bates retweeted
The Firebreak is embarking on its most ambitious project: mapping out the foundation influence ecosystem.
@zaruk will articulate the #philoligarch playbook, their networks, the stakeholders they control and which foundations dominate which issues.
thefirebreak.org/p/philoliga…
Clive Bates retweeted
Clive Bates calls it “philanthro-colonialism”: when a nation’s sovereignty is, in his view, handed over to wealthy philanthropists to influence international forums. “It’s so disrespectful.” youtu.be/E2XYMXG087Q
#Sovereignty #Philanthropy
Clive Bates retweeted
Great read on what counts as "legitimate" use of noncombusted nicotine products.
Does someone have to actively smoke before they are allowed to benefit?
Aligns well with my own thinking. Thanks @RogerBate3 for referencing my Substack on this: arielleselyaphd.substack.com…
1/4 Must adults first smoke cigarettes before their interest in nicotine becomes legitimate? My new CGHA paper argues for a regulated adult market beyond smoking substitution. Nicotine carries risks; adult choice still matters.
centerforglobalhealthaccount…
Clive Bates retweeted
1/4 Must adults first smoke cigarettes before their interest in nicotine becomes legitimate? My new CGHA paper argues for a regulated adult market beyond smoking substitution. Nicotine carries risks; adult choice still matters.
centerforglobalhealthaccount…
Clive Bates retweeted
The Twelve Truths of Tobacco Harm Reduction
“They can stop inhaling cigarette smoke before they’re ready to stop using nicotine.”
@jamomartin @drjoesDIYhealth @maryaldred @JulianHillMP @Anne_Ruston @Mark_Butler_MP
@Clive_Bates
09algor.substack.com/p/the-t…
Clive Bates retweeted
The number one barrier to less harmful nicotine alternatives is decades of incomplete public-health messaging that left most people believing nicotine itself causes the cancer and disease from smoking, with little corrective effort.
"The number one barrier to [smoking cessation] is the complete misperception about nicotine safety."
Mitch Zeller: Former Director, @FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), Harvard Club NYC
youtube.com/watch?v=jQkExPmL…
Clive Bates retweeted
With ~11% of Kenyan men smoking (and ~4% of 10-14-year-old boys) the primary public health problem is certainly not vaping or pouch use, which are far less harmful alternatives to smoking. The primary public health problem is smoking.
From @Clive_Bates:
clivebates.substack.com/p/to…
