ASEAN Support Urged for Palau’s Historic Call for UN Review of Nicotine

The Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) has called on ASEAN Member States to support the Republic of Palau, which this week made history by submitting the world’s first formal notification to the United Nations (UN) requesting that nicotine – the toxic and highly addictive drug found in cigarettes, e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products, and nicotine pouches – be placed under  international drug control (see www.nicotinereview.org). Nicotine is also known to cause cardiovascular disease, promote cancer, and harm the developing adolescent brain with long-term cognitive and behavioral consequences.

“We may be a small nation, but the scale of a problem has never determined who acts on it,” said Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jr. “Millions die every year. More than a billion are dependent on nicotine — most of them hooked as children. We could not look away. We call on governments around the world to join us in asking the United Nations to finally treat nicotine like the toxic and addictive drug that it is.”

Like Palau, 8 of 11 ASEAN countries have banned e-cigarettes, reflecting a regional recognition that nicotine addiction is rapidly escalating, especially among youths, and becoming harder to control as the tobacco industry introduces newer products faster than regulations can keep up.

The tobacco industry has exploited regulatory gaps by rapidly expanding its range of products, using thousands of youth-appealing flavors and marketing them as “tobacco-free” while delivering the same addictive drug. Placing nicotine under the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances would anchor control at the molecular level, complementing regulation under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

“Given the current and overwhelming scientific evidence, nicotine should face strict global control. The government of Palau is taking a necessary step to correct a long-standing regulatory gap that has allowed nicotine to remain inadequately controlled despite its known harms,” said Dr. Ulysses Dorotheo, Executive Director of SEATCA.

Recent legal developments in Malaysia underscore the urgency of a coordinated global response. Until March 2023, nicotine was listed as a scheduled poison under the Poison Act. This May, the Malaysia High Court ruled that the delisting of liquid nicotine from the Poisons List was unlawful, finding that the decision was primarily driven by economic considerations and made without proper consultation with Malaysia’s Poisons Board.

“Palau’s call for a UN review of nicotine needs our full support. A global framework would help establish how nicotine is defined and controlled, reducing fragmentation and closing loopholes that currently weaken protection of public health,” added Dorotheo.

SEATCA stressed that this review is an important milestone towards finally ending the tobacco pandemic that claims over 7 million lives annually.