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  • Korean Study Finds Heavy Smoking Ups Fatty Liver Risk 41% in Young Men

    Korean Study Finds Heavy Smoking Ups Fatty Liver Risk 41% in Young Men

    A large South Korean study found that heavy smoking is associated with a significantly higher risk of fatty liver disease among young adults, adding to evidence linking smoking with metabolic liver disorders. Researchers from Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital and Ewha Womans University analyzed health screening data from nearly 3.5 million adults aged 20 to 39 and found that men who smoked 20 or more cigarettes per day had a 41% greater risk of developing fatty liver disease, while smoking for 10 to 19 years increased risk by 15%.

    Although relatively few women in the study smoked, female smokers with a 10- to 19-year history faced an even greater increase in risk. The researchers said the findings support strengthening smoking cessation policies, noting that smoking appears to increase fatty liver risk independently of obesity and alcohol consumption.

  • Rutgers’ CRST Touts Ability to Predict Industry Trends

    Rutgers’ CRST Touts Ability to Predict Industry Trends

    Researchers at Rutgers University’s Center for Rapid Surveillance of Tobacco (CRST) say their real-time monitoring system, developed after Juul’s rapid rise, is helping regulators identify emerging nicotine products before they become widespread. In a special issue of Preventive Medicine Reports, the center detailed how it combines retail audits, sales data, marketing surveillance, and consumer surveys to track more than 50 tobacco and nicotine brands.

    “Large federal surveys are like an aircraft carrier in the ocean,” said Cristine Delnevo, CRST’s director and principal investigator. “They’re extremely powerful in many ways, but they can’t pivot quickly.”

    The researchers highlighted the system’s early identification of unauthorized disposable vape brand Geek Bar, which they correctly predicted would surpass Juul in sales by late 2025, as well as the rapid growth of nicotine pouches led by Zyn. The center also found that pouch users are predominantly adults with prior cigarette or other tobacco use, while emphasizing that continued surveillance is needed to monitor whether marketing begins attracting new youth users as the category expands.

    The center, which is in the fourth year of its five-year contract with the FDA and the National Cancer Institute, publishes regularly updated fact sheets on emerging brands on its website.

  • Former Top Cop Warns of Chinese Exploiting Vape Loophole

    Former Top Cop Warns of Chinese Exploiting Vape Loophole

    Illicit Chinese vape manufacturers are exploiting regulatory gaps by replacing nicotine with synthetic alternatives such as 6-methyl nicotine (6MN) (also known as NIX) to continue selling flavored disposable vapes in the U.S. market, former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Deputy Director Edgar Domenech told Fox News Digital. He warned that the products use similar branding, packaging, and flavors while substituting ingredients to avoid existing oversight, creating challenges for regulators and law enforcement.

    Domenech said the unregulated nicotine analog, which some manufacturers claim falls outside the Food and Drug Administration’s authority, represents an “unknown variable” with limited research on its health effects and potential addictiveness. Domenech called for stronger enforcement, clearer regulatory guidance, and greater awareness among lawmakers, schools, and consumers, arguing that illicit operators are targeting youth through flavored disposable products and exploiting legal loopholes to maintain access to the market.

  • Riot Offers to Pull Flavored Products to Improve UK’s New Vape Regs

    Riot Offers to Pull Flavored Products to Improve UK’s New Vape Regs

    British e-liquid manufacturer Riot Labs endorsed tougher restrictions on youth access to vaping products while urging the UK government to rethink proposed packaging and display rules, arguing that treating vapes like cigarettes could reinforce the misconception that the products carry similar health risks, saying the government is dressing “the cure like the disease.”

    As an alternative, the company said it would support limiting general retailers to selling only plain-packaged, tobacco-flavored vapes kept behind closed cabinets, while voluntarily confining its own flavored products to licensed, adult-only specialist vape shops once the retail licensing framework under the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 is implemented. Riot said the approach would reduce youth access while preserving adult smokers’ access to flavored products and specialist advice, contending that restricting distribution — not simply standardizing packaging — would better balance public health objectives with tobacco harm reduction.

  • Pakistani Tobacco Farmers Question Excessive Taxes

    Pakistani Tobacco Farmers Question Excessive Taxes

    Pakistan’s tobacco industry is raising concerns over the sector’s growing tax burden and the use of development funds collected from tobacco producers, arguing that multiple levies are increasing costs without delivering promised benefits to farming communities. Industry officials highlighted three major taxes — the Federal Excise Duty (FED), Federal Tobacco Cess (FTC), and Tobacco Development Cess (TDC) — noting that the advance FED on green leaf tobacco currently stands at Rs390 ($1.40) per kg, while the TDC in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has risen from Rs6 per kilogram in 2023 to Rs27.5 ($0.02 to $0.10) per kg.

    Although the TDC is legally earmarked for infrastructure, agricultural development, and farmer welfare in tobacco-growing districts, industry representatives say an estimated Rs6 billion ($18 million) collected over the past two years has produced little visible improvement, prompting calls for greater transparency and accountability in how the funds are allocated and spent.

  • India Seeks to Quash Adani’s Duty-Free Pouch Challenge

    India Seeks to Quash Adani’s Duty-Free Pouch Challenge

    India’s government is seeking to dismiss Adani Group’s legal challenge over the sale of nicotine pouches at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, arguing that the products represent a “substantive violation” of drug laws and a public health risk. Authorities said nicotine pouches, which are classified as drugs under Indian law, remain unapproved and cannot be sold simply because they are imported, stored in customs-bonded warehouses, or marketed to departing international passengers. “The fact that they are stored in a customs-bonded warehouse does not mean they ⁠are not physically present in India,” the government said.

    Adani argued that drug regulations should not apply to duty-free sales and has challenged the regulatory interpretation in court, a case that could set a precedent for how India handles the sale of nicotine pouches at international airports. The government maintained that nicotine is an addictive chemical and warned that allowing unapproved products could expose consumers to products with unverified safety and quality standards.

  • Philippines Seizes $48M in Illegal Cigarettes

    Philippines Seizes $48M in Illegal Cigarettes

    Philippine authorities are preparing to destroy more than ₱3 billion ($48 million) worth of smuggled cigarettes after seizing 59 container vans of the Modern Gia brand in coordinated operations across Cebu and Manila. The Bureau of Customs and the National Bureau of Investigation said the shipment, believed to have originated in China, is one of the country’s largest cigarette smuggling busts this year and announced plans to file multiple criminal charges against those involved, including financiers and organizers, under customs, tax, anti-economic sabotage, and potential intellectual property laws.

    Officials said the cigarettes will be shredded rather than auctioned to prevent them from re-entering the market, while investigations continue into the shipment’s origins, associated companies, and any public officials who may have facilitated the operation.

  • Bangladesh Banking on Technology to Fight Illicit Tobacco  

    Bangladesh Banking on Technology to Fight Illicit Tobacco  

    Bangladesh’s government unveiled a technology-driven strategy to combat illicit tobacco trade as part of its FY2026-27 budget, aiming to strengthen tax enforcement, protect government revenue, and support public health goals. Central to the plan is a comprehensive Track and Trace system that will use AI-enabled cameras, automated production counting devices, and QR or AR-coded tax stamps to monitor tobacco manufacturing and distribution in real time. Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said tobacco taxation remains a critical tool for both revenue generation and public health, with the new measures designed to create a more modern, transparent, and technology-based VAT system while reducing tax evasion across the tobacco supply chain.

    The proposal also includes a mobile app that allows the public to report illicit tobacco products directly to the National Board of Revenue, along with a whistleblower reward program to encourage reporting of smuggling and illegal sales. Additional measures include restricting cigarette and bidi paper imports to authorized manufacturers, imposing a 300% supplementary duty on cigarette filter materials and a 350% duty on nicotine granules and nicotine pouches, while raising minimum cigarette retail prices and setting maximum prices and excise duties for nicotine pouches and heated tobacco products. The government said the combined approach of digital monitoring, stronger enforcement, and higher tobacco taxes is intended to curb illicit trade, although estimates of Bangladesh’s illicit cigarette market vary widely, ranging from about 5.6% in an independent study to more than 18% according to industry estimates.

  • Serbia Pulls Nearly 25K Vapes from Market

    Serbia Pulls Nearly 25K Vapes from Market

    Serbia’s Ministry of Agriculture ordered the withdrawal of 24,852 flavored electronic cigarettes from the market, valued at approximately 24 million dinars ($230,000), after an extraordinary inspection found the products failed to comply with the country’s Tobacco Law. The Agricultural Inspection banned further distribution of the identified products until the regulatory violations are corrected, stating the action is intended to ensure consistent enforcement of tobacco regulations, protect consumers, and maintain fair competition among businesses. Authorities said inspections of tobacco and related products will continue to intensify, with additional enforcement measures to be taken whenever non-compliant products are identified.

  • Malaysian Police Bust International MDMA Hub

    Malaysian Police Bust International MDMA Hub

    Malaysian police dismantled a foreign-run drug syndicate that allegedly used the country as a processing and packaging hub for MDMA-laced vape cartridges destined for Indonesia. In Operation Pijat, authorities arrested eight foreign nationals in Selangor and seized approximately 500 vape cartridges containing suspected MDMA, nearly 5 kg of the drug, and bottles of liquid MDMA with an estimated street value of RM152,400 ($38,000). Police believe the group had been operating since February, using remote locations to prepare the illicit products before smuggling them by sea, and said the syndicate had likely completed several overseas shipments before the operation disrupted its activities.