Congratulations tobacco control! Smoking Induced Deprivation among adults who smoke ⬆️from 9.5% in 2016 to 14.6% in 2022 .. Prevalence .. greatest in Australia (12% to 22.7%)! @algore09algor.bsky.social @igas2.bsky.social @jamomartin.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Smoking‐induced deprivation and subsequent smoking cessation among adults who smoke in four high‐income countries: Trends, correlates and longitudinal associations, 2016–2024

Background and aims Tobacco smoking substantially contributes to poverty. Smoking-induced deprivation (SID) occurs when people continue smoking despite financial stress. This study examined (i) tren...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

We've been warning government about the inevitable corruption risks associated with illicit tobacco for some time now. If the ABF was compromised at this level, one can only imagine how vulnerable other agencies are. This is just the beginning. #auspol www.smh.com.au/national/mor...

More laughingstocks than legends: The collapse of Border Force’s secret spy unit

The secret push to turn the ABF into an elite spy agency collapsed in three years, leaving the country blind as the tobacco war exploded and crime gangs became a national security threat.

smh.com.au

Delighted to share my presentation from the Australian Institute of Criminology 2026 conference. Please have a watch if you're interested in the Australian illicit tobacco and nicotine trade. 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjKn...

Australia’s illicit nicotine market: Trends and insights

YouTube video by CriminologyTV

youtube.com

📊 New ASH survey data reveals trends in adult and youth vaping. 📈 New factsheets published today by ASH reveal comprehensive data from our survey conducted by YouGov on vaping trends and behaviour in Britain.

Another day, another tobacco related arson attack. 🔥🔥 Four immediate takeaways: 1) It's only a matter of time until more innocent people are killed. 2) This will not stop until we divert a critical mass of nicotine consumers back to the legal market. 7news.com.au/news/7news-l...

Ram-raid smash sparks destructive inferno across multiple Melbourne shops

Follow along as we bring you all of the big crime, traffic and weather updates.

7news.com.au

Sweden 41% fewer cancer cases than EU average despite similar nicotine consumption. Michael Landl highlights this, sparking debate on tobacco regulation. Sweden achieved low smoking rates through harm reduction using snus, vapes, and pouches. www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/partner/arti...

Brussels knows how to end smoking, but chooses not to

Sweden records 41% fewer cancer cases than the EU average, despite similar nicotine consumption. World Vapers' Alliance's Michael Landl explains wh...

theparliamentmagazine.eu

prices be high down under

Australia’s tobacco and nicotine policies are failing on nearly every conceivable front. ❌ Increased smoking ❌ Billions lost in tobacco excise ❌ Widening health inequalities ❌ Record growth in organised crime We urgently need a new approach. youtu.be/CMqbv8mhvBg

Even Coalition now on board! Albo is blocking real reforms on gambling advertising Time to get real Albo ! End gambling advertising ALTOGETHER!! www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...

‘The case against it is overwhelming’: Howard joins Coalition MPs demanding tougher gambling laws

In an open letter, opposition MPs including frontbencher Andrew Hastie and deputy Nationals leader Darren Chester said: “Your proposed reforms do not go far enough.”

smh.com.au

Sweden just became the first Western country to go "smoke free". Meanwhile, Australia, the self-proclaimed world leader, is going up in flames. My piece on what we got wrong and what we have to learn from the real world leaders in tobacco control. michaelwest.com.au/tobacco-rack...

Tobacco racket. Swedes go smoke-free while Australians light up with criminals - Michael West

Australia's smoke reduction policies have failed to reduce smoking while fueling a black market and huge reduction in tobacco excise revenue.

michaelwest.com.au

Suggestions that cutting tobacco tax cannot reduce the illicit market are wrong. In 1994, the Canadian government slashed their tobacco excise by over 50% (and boosted enforcement) and successfully suppressed the illicit market. Subsequent studies found the tax cut did the heavy lifting. 🧵

The experimental estimates are based on "nicotine metabolite concentrations" detected in wastewater samples, combined with data showing a collapse in spending on legal cigarettes and vapes.

ABS estimates 80pc of tobacco consumed in Australia last year illegal

The experimental estimates are based on "nicotine metabolite concentrations" detected in wastewater samples, combined with data showing a collapse in spending on legal cigarettes and vapes.

abc.net.au

Whoa. According to newly released figures from the ABS, in Dec 2025 a staggering 80% of tobacco sold in Australia was illicit! Perhaps it's time for policymakers to listen to someone other than the tobacco control prohibitionists who got us into this mess? #auspol www.abs.gov.au/articles/hou...

open.substack.com/pub/clivebat...

A ridiculous but revealing conference declaration

In the perpetual contest for the dumbest public health conference declaration, the Europeans are going for gold.

open.substack.com

My article out today: why Australia has to now start reducing cigarette excise & make safer, smoke-free nicotine products easier to get than deadly cigarettes #auspol @algore09algor.bsky.social @jmenezes.bsky.social @igas2.bsky.social @ianamossyd.bsky.social pearlsandirritations.com/post/2026/05...

Australia abandoned harm minimisation on smoking – and fuelled a black market

Australia’s steep cigarette excise increases and restrictive vaping policies have fuelled a massive illegal tobacco market while undermining the country’s long-standing harm-minimisation approach to p...

pearlsandirritations.com

What can UK learn from Australia’s nicotine crackdown? 1) If you ban, stigmatise and spread misinformation about vaping you risk increasing smoking 🚬 2) If you tax tobacco out of affordability of everyday people, you create an uncontrollable black market 🔥 www.bmj.com/content/393/...

Is the government's enforcement-led approach going to win the tobacco wars? Not likely. Check out the latest conversation with the excellent team at 7am to find out why.🔥🔥👇 7ampodcast.com.au/episodes/sho...

Should tobacco shops exist? The new weapon in the tobacco wars

Australia’s tobacco wars are fuelling violence, with fire bombings and arson attacks spanning across the east coast. Now the federal government wants to treat these organised crime syndicates like ‘d...

7ampodcast.com.au

🚨 New paper alert: 'Has Australia lost control of its tobacco and nicotine markets?' Short answer - yes, and largely by following two WHO endorsed policies: very high tobacco taxes and a ban on vapes and other less harmful nicotine products onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Has Australia lost control of its tobacco and nicotine markets?

Background Australia has adopted two policies that the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends as best practice for tobacco control: it has steeply increased tobacco taxes since 2010 and only all...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

3 senior exWHO researchers (R Beaglehole, R Bonita, T Pang), Nature Health 2026, “Increased use of smoke-free nicotine products such as vapes could help to achieve an ambitious global goal of reducing smoking prevalence below 5% by 2040” doi.org/10.1038/s443... @publichealthaus.bsky.social

Smoke-free nicotine products can accelerate the end of the smoking epidemic - Nature Health

Increased use of smoke-free nicotine products such as vapes could help to achieve an ambitious global goal of reducing smoking prevalence below 5% by 2040.

doi.org

Is the government's enforcement-led approach going to win the tobacco wars? Not likely. Check out the latest conversation with the excellent team at 7am to find out why.🔥🔥👇 7ampodcast.com.au/episodes/sho...

Should tobacco shops exist? The new weapon in the tobacco wars

Australia’s tobacco wars are fuelling violence, with fire bombings and arson attacks spanning across the east coast. Now the federal government wants to treat these organised crime syndicates like ‘d...

7ampodcast.com.au

www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03...

Man shot at cafe, getaway car burnt in incident linked to illegal tobacco

Police are investigating whether a 49-year-old man shot in Altona North in Melbourne's west was a random victim of the illegal tobacco trade or was targeted by the offenders.

abc.net.au

1/3 International Monetary Fund: Price the harm “But policymakers need to think more broadly about how to change unhealthy behavior.Ideally, the level of taxation should reflect the degree of harm a product is likely to cause while still safeguarding overall revenue. ..” @algore09algor.bsky.social

Interesting to see this new study on taxation and harm from the IMF. The authors note Australia's "misaligned" approach to tobacco taxation. They also point to the success of New Zealand's approach, noting the (much) less harmful effects of vaping 👇 www.imf.org/en/publicati...

Time for a Tin Tin defeats the drug lords comic book. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

Belgium at risk of becoming ‘narco-state’, judge warns

President of Antwerp court makes comments after anonymous judge warned country was turning into ‘a narco-state’

theguardian.com

Do you smoke illicit tobacco in Australia? Want to share your views on the tobacco black market? Join us for a confidential interview. See info sheet below and email me at james.m@deakin.edu.au for further info.

Check out the latest from @edjegasothy.bsky.social and me about Australia's historical experience with prohibition, and what lessons we can learn about it's impact on illicit markets and organised crime. theconversation.com/prohibitive-...

Prohibitive policies drove organised crime in Australia 100 years ago. It’s happening again

Where there’s demand, there will be supply, legal or not. From the ‘sly grog’ of the 1920s to the illicit vapes of today, getting regulation right is difficult.

theconversation.com

‘ … Reducing excise rates would shift consumption away from illicit products.' Review of Australia’s illicit tobacco market apo.org.au/node/333573

Do you smoke illicit tobacco in Australia? Want to share your views on the tobacco black market? Join us for a confidential interview. See info sheet below and email me at james.m@deakin.edu.au for further info.

Do you smoke illicit tobacco in Australia? Want to share your views on the tobacco black market? Join us for a confidential interview. See info sheet below and email me at james.m@deakin.edu.au for further info.

This seems like progress. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Treasury considering changes to Australia’s contentious tobacco excise, as calls grow for a freeze

The tax has climbed by 60% since 2020 and accounts for three-quarters of the legal cost of a packet of cigarettes

theguardian.com