Clive Bates presents a proposed future for tobacco control that places heavy emphasis on the potential benefits of nicotine replacement products. Given the pivotal nature of nicotine addiction in the tobacco epidemic, the development of enhanced non-tobacco nicotine delivery products would indeed have a significant impact in decreasing tobacco sales. The sales of these nicotine products should certainly be facilitated by significantly reducing the existing regulatory barriers to open marketing found in most countries.

However, a tobacco control approach relying primarily on fostering nicotine replacement products is far too narrow. Doing so deflects attention and resources devoted towards other measures. We cannot wait for new nicotine products to be developed in order to act, nor can we …