Hello again
While the NNA has been busy with a number of initiatives in 2021, Covid has exerted pressures on our time so there has been a lack of updates to you, our supporters. As we seem to be getting nearer to the life we all remember, here is the first of what we hope will be more regular communications from now on. We hope you are all well and not too badly affected by what we’ve all been through.
Nicotine pouches
In January, we wrote to Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health, Jo Churchill, to call for sensible light touch regulation of modern oral nicotine pouches. We believe regulation needs to be put in place including age of sale restrictions and to curtail the activities of reckless or unscrupulous sellers, while still allowing adult smokers access to these potentially beneficial products.
We continue to emphasise that nicotine pouches hold considerable promise for the betterment of public health as a safer alternative to combustible tobacco, but better regulation is required to protect the category into the future.
APPG COP9 Inquiry
At the start of the year, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Vaping (APPG) conducted an inquiry into the WHO’s Conference of the Parties meeting (COP9) to be held in The Hague in November, where it is expected that there will be a hostile atmosphere towards safer nicotine products such as e-cigarettes. We made a submission to the consultation for this report and our Chair gave oral evidence at one of two virtual sessions held in February. The report giving the APPG’s recommendations for the UK’s delegation to COP9 was published at the end of March and you can read its findings at this link.
Make your voice heard
The APPG has now opened another inquiry, this time entitled UK Tobacco Harm Reduction Opportunities Post-Brexit: Achieving a Smoke-Free 2030. There is a consultation which is open to consumers so do please respond, it really could not be easier. Click the link here to tell your story, and the more stories that are told, the more the message will be heard. Please add your voice to make sure that the craziness of European legislation and regulation can’t creep in to the UK. The deadline is Thursday 27th May, so please don’t delay, do it now.
Calling vapers in York and Hull
Dr Frances Thirlway (York University) is looking for local vapers to join an experts-by-experience group for a study she is conducting. She’s very interested in grassroots thinking, so if you’re from there, please do get in touch by contacting our Vice Chair, Louise Ross, via
Sign up as a NNA Supporter and encourage your friends and family to sign up too, by clicking here.
