Review of options for tobacco product regulation

Allen & Clarke conducted a review of national and international literature on tobacco product design, manufacture, testing and packaging.   

Our report canvassed a number of options for reducing exposure to tobacco toxins by people who are unwilling or unable to completely cease their tobacco use. The major difficulties in attempting harm reduction through modifications to tobacco or provision of alternative nicotine sources are that:

• current methods of measuring the constituents of tobacco smoke are inadequate
• there is little certainty about the constituents of New Zealand tobacco and tobacco smoke
• the biological effects of tobacco smoke are extremely complex, making it difficult to assess the likely effects of product modifications
• there are concerns that innovations that provide cleaner nicotine for smokers may discourage smokers from quitting
• similarly, there are concerns that cleaner nicotine sources could provide more of an incentive for non-smokers to initiate smoking.

The report from Allen & Clarke made several prioritised recommendations to meet these difficulties.  The full report (publicly released under the Official Information Act) can be viewed here.