Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates Demand Urgent Change As Australia's Tobacco Wars Expose Global Policy Failures

Monday, 18 August 2025, 8:27 am
Press Release: CAPHRA

As Australia's tobacco control strategy descends into chaos with over 125 fire bombings, a thriving A$6.3 billion illicit market, and smoking rates stagnating at 11%, leading tobacco harm reduction advocates are calling for an urgent paradigm shift ahead of the groundbreaking Asia Forum on Nicotine (AFN25) conference.

The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) today issued a damning indictment of the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), demanding that consumer advocacy groups be granted formal observer status at the upcoming COP11 meetings in Geneva this November.

"Australia's tobacco policy doesn't pass the pub test," declared Nancy Loucas, CAPHRA Executive Coordinator. "Sky-high cigarette prices haven't made people quit – they've made criminals rich whilst creating a national security crisis that has transformed a health issue into a war zone".

Australia's prohibitionist approach has become a cautionary tale of ideological policymaking over evidence-based harm reduction. Despite implementing the world's highest tobacco taxes – with cigarettes costing up to A$50 per pack – adult smoking rates have flatlined since 2019. Criminal syndicates now control an estimated 50% of the tobacco market, generating A$2.3 billion annually whilst funding violent turf wars.

The Melbourne tobacco wars have seen over 125 arson attacks since 2023, with convenience stores torched weekly and innocent lives lost. Rather than acknowledge policy failure, Australian authorities have responded with more enforcement spending – allocating an additional A$156 million.

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"Australia has created a monster. Their ideological war on harm reduction has unleashed criminal chaos whilst smokers continue dying. It's a complete policy disaster that the rest of the world must learn from," said Loucas.

In stark contrast, New Zealand's pragmatic embrace of tobacco harm reduction has seen adult smoking rates plummet from 15.1% in 2018 to just 6.9% by 2024 – a remarkable 49% decline in five years.

The inaugural Asia Forum on Nicotine (AFN25), scheduled for August 27, 2025, represents a watershed moment for tobacco harm reduction advocacy in the Asia-Pacific region. Moderated by Nancy Loucas and featuring leading regional experts, the conference will address challenges facing a region that houses more than half the world's 1.1 billion smokers.

"AFN25 is absolutely critical for Asia's future. We cannot allow Australia's failed approach to spread across our region. Asia presents the greatest opportunity for tobacco harm reduction globally, and AFN25 will demonstrate how evidence-based policies can save millions of lives now," said Loucas.

Despite mounting evidence of tobacco harm reduction's effectiveness, the WHO FCTC continues to exclude consumer advocacy groups from COP meetings, operating as what critics describe as a "closed bubble of cultivated groupthink". This contrasts with the UN Climate Convention, which lists over 2,000 NGOs as observers compared to the FCTC's restrictive 20 organisations.

"Rather than trying to ban effective smoking cessation tools, the WHO should be promoting their availability. If you want fewer people to die from cigarette use, you make safer alternatives available. Sadly, too much billionaire money is tied up discrediting vaping for the WHO to recommend guidance that will actually save lives".

"AFN25 will expose the stark contrast between Australia's criminal chaos and Asia's potential for evidence-based success. We cannot allow WHO ideology to condemn another generation of Asian smokers to death," concluded Loucas.

With 8 million tobacco-related deaths annually, the WHO FCTC's ideological opposition to proven harm reduction strategies represents a public health catastrophe. AFN25 is free to attend and will be livestreamed globally from their website: https://www.afn.asia.

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