New products and new challenges
Faced with declines in cigarette use – the youth smoking rate dropped from nearly 23% in 2000 to less than 3% today – the commercial tobacco industry has expanded its product offerings to include flashy e-cigarettes and flavored nicotine products such as oral nicotine pouches, dramatically changing the product landscape and raising concerns about products that appeal to young people. Companies are also using synthetic nicotine – created in a laboratory and not derived from tobacco leaf – raising regulatory challenges and health concerns. Meanwhile, combustible cigarettes are still marketed aggressively with trillions consumed each year around the world.
See our work on emerging tobacco products