Category Archive: News and Advocacy
Black Market Booms, Youth Vaping Rises, Smoking Increases
Published: May 2026
When the Netherlands banned flavored vapor products in 2024, policymakers claimed the move was necessary to prevent a so-called “youth gateway effect.”
Instead, the exact opposite appears to have happened.
According to new data highlighted by Prohibition Does Not Work (PDNW), the Dutch flavor ban has fueled illicit sales, increased youth vaping, and may even be pushing people back toward smoking combustible cigarettes.
Rather than eliminating demand, the policy simply pushed consumers away from regulated products and into underground markets.
“The Dutch experience is a textbook example of policy backfiring.”
— Tim Andrews, Founder of Prohibition Does Not Work
This week, something pretty significant went down in the ongoing fight over vaping regulation in the United States. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard arguments in a consolidated case involving seven independent vape companies challenging the FDA’s widespread denial of flavored e-liquid applications.
If you’ve been following the PMTA mess at all, this is one of those cases that could have real ripple effects across the entire industry.
You absolutely read that right. In a milestone that deserves global attention, Sweden has officially crossed the threshold into *smoke-free status* with adult smoking rates dipping below the internationally recognised benchmark of 5%. This isn’t some aspirational goal or timeline prediction anymore it’s **reality**, and it’s happening now. Where is Mike Bloomberg and the WHO to give Sweden an award?
For years, we’ve talked about harm reduction, safer nicotine alternatives, and the future without cigarettes. Sweden has made that future tangible and real and happening YEARS ahead of the EU Mandated target date.
On December 12th, 2025, after over 16 years on YouTube, my channel was terminated. No warning. No specific explanation. Just gone.
Over 100 million views. Thousands of videos. Hundreds of livestreams. And most importantly, years of helping people quit smoking and find safer alternatives. All of it was wiped away in an instant.
What Happened?
As of now, I have no clear reason. YouTube didn’t provide a specific explanation beyond a vague “community guidelines” violation. I’ve filed an appeal and asked for a human review. That’s all I can do at this point.
If you’ve followed me over the years, you know I’ve always tried to do things the right way. I’ve followed the rules. I’ve avoided youth content. I’ve focused on harm reduction, science, and empowering adult smokers to make informed decisions. I’ve played the game. I’ve been transparent. And apparently, it wasn’t enough.
No matter how many times the truth is told, other people will always bring up old arguments like “popcorn lung”. While real, popcorn lung ( bronchiolitis obliterans) is a very real and scary thing. It has never been connected or even correlated with legal nicotine vaping. Anyone trying to tell you otherwise is being dishonest.
Links for everything discussed in this video will be down below
The Future of Vaping, BluCig, and YouTube’s Broken Moderation System
On November 7th, 2025, at 6:31 PM, I received a notification from YouTube that one of my oldest videos “The Future of Vaping ~ The BluCig” had been removed for violating community guidelines. Along with the removal came a formal warning against my channel. But here’s the Thing: the video was from 2016. And it was satire.
Let me give you some context. In 2016, I uploaded a video titled “The Future of Vaping ~ The BluCig”, a satirical piece that raised a simple, uncomfortable question: “What happens to vaping if we don’t push back against corporate influence? and FDA’s Epidemic?” The answer, I posited, was a future dominated by sterile, lifeless devices from Big Tobacco like the BluCig. It wasn’t an endorsement. It wasn’t a product placement. It was a warning.
Keep in mind this isn’t directed at anybody in particular just at the overall pitiful response I saw on social media to this announcement. I’m not asking you to join the PMI fan club, I’m not even a member myself, but when people crap on big tobacco, simply because they are big tobacco, they end up sounding like a little Bloomberg minion. PMI has done more for THR than our own trusted FDA, these are just facts.
You want to discuss PMI VS The hobby vape industry? Then we would be having a different conversation. The enemy of my enemy is not my friend. But I’m not going to stand in the way of someone who stands for vaping.
Welcome back to TBN! Industry news, advocacy, and information. We care about facts and science here. We care about harm and harm reduction here. Today’s Topic: NICOTINE!!! Scourge of the youth, more addictive than heroin, changes your BRAIN! WHY WOULD ANYONE USE IT!?!? how about because it’s awesome and doesn’t fit the definition of addiction by itself. Boom science.
That and SO MUCH more!! link explosion will be below. We are Danielle-less today due to her cross-country move, so I’ll be flying solo!! old school style.