With GFN25 less than a week away, it’s time to get ready for this year’s star sessions and expert-led panels, and most importantly, figure out which sessions to attend! GFN25 is shaping up to be one of the best yet and we are thrilled that so many of you are joining us in Warsaw next week. If you're joining us in-person you will get a separate email next week with more information about the conference in Warsaw!

Misinformation is an ever-present issue across many areas of public policy, but for tobacco harm reduction, it is now posing something of an existential crisis. The THR community is made up of many different voices, communicating many different aspects of the approach. By continuing to try and develop positive relationships with the media, can we help to change the narrative around tobacco harm reduction?

Regulatory changes come fast and frequently in the world of safer nicotine products, often leaving consumers, industry and regulators scrambling to catch up. In this week’s newsletter, we’re looking at a session designed to help us explore the wider patterns in regulation and how innovation can still thrive

Poland’s plans to ban flavoured nicotine pouches raise questions about whether a wider regulatory trend is emerging across the continent, reports TobaccoIntelligence in this exclusive article for GFN25.

The GFN audience does not need persuading of tobacco harm reduction’s (THR) potential to improve the lives of people who smoke. But that recognition is far from universal, even among those we might consider ‘natural allies’. That’s why our panel discussion, ‘Who else should be in the room?’, on Saturday 21 June, is such an important part of the conference programme.

This week we have another superb set of parallel GFN25 workshops for you to choose from! Read on to find out about two very exciting additions to this year’s programme and start your decision-making process…

In a rapidly changing media landscape, THR advocates often face an uphill battle to communicate their lived experiences and to share the rapidly growing science supporting the efficacy of safer nicotine products. But in these two brand new workshops for GFN25, tobacco harm reduction experts will combat some of the prevailing issues that advocates face, and concentrate on the established and emerging evidence surrounding safer nicotine products.

In Warsaw from 19 to 21 June, the 12th annual Global Forum on Nicotine (GFN25) is set to address a major obstacle in efforts to reduce smoking, which remains the leading cause of preventable death worldwide. Pervasive misconceptions about safer nicotine products and their role in smoking cessation could see tobacco harm reduction fail to fulfil its huge potential. GFN25: Challenging perceptions - effective communication for tobacco harm reduction will see more than 40 expert speakers from around the world discuss the messaging crisis facing harm reduction and propose solutions. Registration is open now.

Despite its aim to reduce global consumption of cigarettes, the impact of the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) on tobacco use has been heavily contested. Indeed, while smoking rates have fallen in most high income countries, cigarette consumption has actually increased in low-and-middle-income countries since the FCTC was enacted.

GFN25 may be June’s can’t-miss event, but the excitement doesn’t stop at the conference hall doors. As many of you know, Warsaw is full of delights, and well worth exploring in the summer sun. So if you’re booking your flights, read on for some very tempting reasons to come to Warsaw early!

Our final keynote speaker reveal for #GFN25 is…*drumroll please*...Jacob Grier! Jacob is a US-based journalist who’s written for Reason, Slate and The Atlantic,regularly tackling some of the toughest topics in the tobacco control debate. In his #GFN25 keynote on Friday 20 June, Jacob will highlight how, despite positive gains made by advocates for drug harm reduction, tobacco harm reductionists face an uphill battle to be heard, let alone get the evidence across.

With just over a month to go until the submission deadline for your creative competition entries, it’s time to sit in the director’s chair and share your masterworks

We’re back again to announce a very special GFN25 panel which will forensically examine some of the science at the centre of the World Health Organisation nicotine messaging. In social media posts, official speeches, press releases and memorandums the WHO has repeatedly made claims which appear to contradict the evidence available, and which conflict with statements made by reputable public health institutions. But simply condemning the WHO’s science on tobacco harm reduction is not going to shift the dial...

Cutting through the noise to deliver factually accurate information about safer nicotine products is a constant struggle, one that consumers know all too well. The lessons learned from years of advocacy are invaluable to everyone in the THR movement. So it is our great privilege to announce that the third keynote of #GFN25 will be given by renowned Canadian consumer advocate Maria Papaioannoy!

Today we’re thrilled to reveal the first GFN25 panel, taking place on Thursday 19 June. In Nicotine pouches - what’s the real story?, an expert panel will be unpicking the complex narratives around this fast-growing safer nicotine product.

To celebrate the coming of spring in Warsaw (it is March after all), we have another top notch GFN25 speaker to reveal! Dr. Mark Tyndall, Clinical Professor at the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia in Canada and a longstanding harm reduction practitioner, will deliver our first keynote of GFN25.

We know that you’ve been eagerly anticipating the lineup for this year’s Global Forum on Nicotine. Without further ado, we’re delighted to reveal that this year’s Michael Russell Oration will be given by Dr. Arielle Selya!

Registration is open for the annual Global Forum on Nicotine (GFN) which will hold its twelfth edition this summer in Warsaw, Poland, from Thursday 19 to Saturday 21 June 2025 at the Presidential Hotel, Warsaw (formerly the Marriott). Challenging perceptions - effective communication for tobacco harm reduction will discuss ways to overcome one of the major obstacles to widespread adoption of an approach that could dramatically improve the health of millions of people who smoke.

We’re delighted to introduce a brand new addition to #GFN25: the GFN Photo Festival! Building on this year’s conference theme“Challenging perceptions - effective communication for tobacco harm reduction”, the GFN Photo Festival is the latest addition to our creative platform. The GFN Film Festival, GFN Photo Festival and GFN Fives all provide exciting opportunities for consumers and others involved in tobacco harm reduction to portray it as they know and live it.

We know you’ve been working on some fantastic research projects since the last Global Forum on Nicotine, so you won’t want to miss this chance to present your science in person at #GFN25 in Warsaw! Introduced with great success last year, GFN Science Lab is back to help you share your research exploring tobacco harm reduction and safer nicotine products with the GFN community.

The GFN Film Festival 2025 is now open to submissions. Following the outstanding success of the first GFN Film Festival held in 2024, the event returns with a $500 cash prize for the entry deemed “Best in Fest”. Held during the Global Forum on Nicotine conference, which will take place at the Warsaw Presidential Hotel from 19-21 June 2025, the event sees filmmakers, creators and advocates being invited to submit work that highlights the importance of tobacco harm reduction (THR) as a key public health strategy.

The 12th edition of the Global Forum on Nicotine takes place in Warsaw, Poland, from Thursday 19 to Saturday 21 June 2025. The day before the conference, Wednesday 18 June, will be devoted to side and satellite meetings, many open to anyone registered for the in person event.