| | Welcome to this week’s GFN26 newsletter! |
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Running from Wednesday 3 to Friday 5 June 2026, GFN26 will be taking place at The Warsaw Presidential Hotel, al. Jerozolimskie 65/79, 00-697 Warszawa, Poland. |
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Attending in person or joining in online - make sure you’ve completed your registration. |
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Keynote 3 - 'The Economic Impacts of Prohibition' |
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Taking place at 09:30 on Friday 5 June, 'The Economic Impacts of Prohibition' will explore the economic dimensions of prohibition through a political economy lens. |
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Drawing on data and insights from multiple markets, the session will consider how regulatory actions may influence consumer behaviour and demand across product categories and public perceptions. |
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'The Economic Impacts of Prohibition' will also examine potential fiscal effects and the dynamics of the illicit trade in response to prohibition. Bringing together policy, data, and market insight, this session will explore how prohibition shapes real-world outcomes for consumers, governments, and public health. |
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Ideally suited to host the session, Sarah is a science engagement specialist working at the intersection of harm reduction, science communication, and regulatory affairs. Through her consultancy, she works with organisations to shape and communicate reduced-risk approaches – specialising in the nicotine, tobacco, and chemical industries. |
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Sarah spent a decade at British American Tobacco, where she managed science engagement and played a key role in advancing and defining the company’s reduced risk product strategy, reshaping the company’s publishing strategy, its visitor programme, and was responsible for award-winning reports that demystified complex research for diverse audiences. |
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Sarah’s experience in making technical science accessible and relevant extends from boardrooms to consumers: bridging the gap between scientists, regulators, and the media. She also brings a wealth of editorial experience from major publishers Nature and Elsevier. She started her working life as a plant geneticist and she has been published in leading journals including Science and Genetics. |
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Joining Sarah as speakers: |
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Shane is the Global Lead at Euromonitor International. With more than a decade overseeing Euromonitor’s nicotine and cannabis research, Shane conducts research and produces future-facing insight across a range of FMCG industries assessing developments in consumer behaviour, regulation, and the intersection between vice and wellbeing. Collaborating with a broad spectrum of players, including international brand owners, companies in the supply chain and regulators, he leads conversations on consumer and industry trends and strategic developments. |
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Shane is a frequent contributor to the mainstream and business media on industry-related topics, including Reuters, BBC, CNBC, The Economist, Bloomberg, the Financial Times and the Times of London. |
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Tim is the Global Spokesman for Prohibition Does Not Work and Director of Consumer Issues at Americans for Tax Reform and the Tholos Foundation. He previously served as Executive Director of the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance, where he founded the Legalise Vaping Australia campaign. |
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Tim holds degrees in law and public policy from the University of Sydney, including a Master of Public Policy, and is a frequent media commentator in both the United States and his native Australia on issues of harm reduction, regulation, and public policy. |
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Session - 'Tobacco Harm Reduction and Illicit Trade' |
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Taking place at 11:30 on Thursday 4 June, 'Tobacco Harm Reduction and Illicit Trade' will explore the impacts of banning tobacco harm reduction products on consumers, retailers, and manufacturers. It will also consider the wider consequences for society of criminal organisations becoming involved in the THR supply chain. |
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Jonathan has 30 years of experience in equity research and asset management, having served as an analyst at Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, and lastly Deutsche Bank, covering insurance, tobacco, and latterly the combined consumer staples sectors. |
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Michael is widely recognised as an expert on international illicit trade. |
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He has presented extensively on the subject and now acts as an International Advisor on Illicit Trade, where he helps initiatives to raise awareness to the influences brought by the involvement of organised crime. |
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Michael Ellis has been engaged in global illicit trade enforcement, investigations, capacity building and training efforts since 1996 and is a former Assistant Director of Police Services at INTERPOL, He was the Head of the INTERPOL Traffic in Illicit Goods and Counterfeit program where his core responsibilities were to manage and coordinate INTERPOL’s global strategy to fight against illicit trade and counterfeiting infringement, and was leading the police organisations’ international efforts in this area. |
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Michael has a Master’s degree in Social Science, where he specifically researched the extensive links between organized crime illicit trade and counterfeiting. |
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Dorrie supports Esigbond, the Dutch trade association for e-cigarettes, as external secretary. Her main focus is on legislation and regulation of e-cigarettes and other smoke-free nicotine products. In the Netherlands, these alternatives face considerable political opposition and a broadly negative public sentiment. To safeguard adult access to harm reduction, Esigbond runs public campaigns and advocates for proportionate, evidence-based regulation. |
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Asa is the Intertrade Manager at Probiotic and Herbal Manufacturing. He is also the Director and founding member of ENDS Cigarette Smoke Thailand, serving as a member of the Parliament's committee on Laws and Regulations of E-Cig. He founded ECST as a consumer group over 10 years ago and the group has sent petition letters to various governmental and related entities asking for the right to choose. The primary goal is to legalise THR as an alternative to smoking in Thailand, a country that continues to prohibit the importation and distribution of vapes. |
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Asa is a former smoker of over 37 years and tried almost all quit methods until he found vaping in 2005 and completely quit smoking over 18 years ago – becoming an avid advocate for Tobacco Harm Reduction. |
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Asa holds a bachelor’s degree from Assumption University, Thailand and a master’s degree from Avila University, USA Social. He was a past President of the Rotary club and sat on the committee of the Federation of the Thai Industries. |
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Óscar Balderas is a journalist from Mexico City, specialising in organised crime, national security, and human rights. His investigations have appeared in international and Mexican outlets and have been translated into several languages. |
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A frequent commentator on security and violence for CNN, Univision, Televisa, and Milenio, he has also delivered lectures on organised crime, money laundering, and illicit trafficking across the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East. |
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Óscar was a finalist for the Gabriel García Márquez Journalism Award and has received the Judicial Journalism Award and the Gender and Justice Award. He is co-author of three books and researcher and screenwriter for the documentaries Una Jauría Llamada Ernesto, El Apóstol, Cenizas y Gloria, Señales del Crimen, and La Narcosatánica. He currently hosts the podcasts Nación Criminal and Territorio Rojo and is a member of Grupo Milenio’s Special Investigations Unit. |
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Let’s meet our media partner - Vapour Poland |
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We are delighted to welcome Vapour Poland Magazine back as a media partner for GFN26. It was established in 2019, with its debut at the sixth edition of GFN. |
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Available both online and in print, the magazine is directed at consumers of safer nicotine products and the industry associated with these products. The content focuses on promoting tobacco harm reduction, legislation related to safer nicotine products, and especially on providing readers with accurate information about the real risks of these products. |
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Vapour Poland organises harm reduction conferences and engages in initiatives to combat misinformation in the media. By prioritising a scientific approach, the magazine aims to contribute to a healthier society. |
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Until next week’s GFN26 newsletter, we wish you better weather than the drizzle we are enjoying here.
The GFN Team |
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