Tobacco lobby has yet another new front organisation

The platform Prohibition Does Not Work (PDNW) is a new lobby group for the tobacco industry. PDNW opposes government measures that restrict smoke-free products. The platform consists of partners who have been connected to the tobacco industry for years. A network unravelled.

By the web editor

The tobacco industry has another new mouthpiece: Prohibition Does Not Work (PDNW). In April, the platform published a report calling the Dutch ban on vape flavors ‘catastrophic’ for public health. Other countries that regulate smoke-free products are also receiving heavy criticism. The new platform consists of partners who, as champions of the free market, have been opposing the regulation of tobacco products, among other things, for years.

PDNW recently made its voice heard in an article by founder Tim Andrews in Brussels Signal, a news outlet which primarily follows the tobacco industry’s view. In this piece Andrews criticizes the Dutch ban on flavored e-cigarettes. According to him, the policy has led to a doubling of vaping among young people within a year. He states that a ‘significant share of users’ buy foreign vapes through ‘illicit online sellers’, or retailers, who thereby violate the rules.

Andrews writes: “Prohibition does not eliminate demand.” People buy their goods through “less transparent, less controllable, and more dangerous channels.” Andrews also claims that smoking is increasing again due to the flavour ban.

The article is based on the aforementioned report, which speaks of a “catastrophic public health outcome.” In the summary, Andrews is quoted as saying: “The Dutch experience is a textbook example of policy backfiring.” PDNW drew attention to the report last Monday in a press release distributed through the ANP press agency in The Netherlands.

PDNW propagates the industry mantra

Prohibition Does Not Work was launched on August 12, 2025. Tim Andrews is the group’s founder and spokesperson. In September 2025, he presented PDNW as a new campaign during the Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum, the annual conference in Warsaw where the sector discusses the future of the tobacco and nicotine industry.

PDNW calls itself “a platform dedicated to advocating for progressive policy that empowers smokers and oppose prohibition of smoke-free products.” According to the group, these products contribute to lower smoking rates in a growing number of countries.

The platform propagates the tobacco industry’s mantra. PDNW claims that banning smoke-free products has failed. Consequently, public health successes have allegedly been reversed and legal sales channels have disappeared. “The result has been crime, lost tax revenue, and more people smoking and dying as a result,” states Andrews. “It is time for a better approach,” according to the platform.

Criticizing country policies

In posts, opinion pieces, and reports on the website, PDNW criticizes governments that ban and regulate vapes and products such as nicotine pouches, or have plans to do so.

On April 8, 2026, Andrews, as a PDNW member, wrote a long letter to the government of Costa Rica urging them to abandon a ban on nicotine pouches, arguing that it would harm public health, promote illegal trade, and create “unnecessary barriers to international commerce.”

PDNW also commented on the European Commission’s recent evaluation of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) and the Tobacco Advertising Directive (TAD) from 2014. The platform criticizes the EU’s call for more regulation. “When safer alternatives are restricted, people do not stop using nicotine. They either return to smoking or shift to illicit markets. That outcome has been repeatedly demonstrated across multiple jurisdictions”, writes Andrews.

PDNW criticizes the German policy that has resulted in a ‘de facto’ ban on nicotine pouches there, “depriving adult smokers of a critical legal and regulated way to quit smoking.” According to PDNW “Ireland is repeating the failed nicotine policy seen across Europe.”

Australia, in particular, comes under fire. “Australia’s aggressive tobacco control policies – including sky-high cigarette taxes, prescription-only vape access, and sweeping bans – have pushed millions into illicit markets. Now, rival gangs are fighting for control, and innocent tobacconists are being targeted,” writes PDNW.

Praise for the Brazilian Public Prosecution Service

But the Federal Public Ministry in Brazil is receiving all the praise. The reason is that the Public Prosecution Service has filed a lawsuit with the federal court in the Brazilian municipality of Uberlândia to “challenging the country’s decade-long e-cigarette prohibition failures.” The Brazilian Public Prosecution Service argues that the market is in the hands of criminal networks and wants to force the Brazilian government to establish a regulated market for electronic cigarettes. This argument aligns with the report written by PDNW regarding the consequences of the Brazilian ban on e-cigarettes.

The PDNW network dissected

On its website, PDNW presents itself as an independent platform. “Our partners are non-government, non-partisan, non-profit organisations and leading experts on prohibition and public health”, the website states. But in reality, PDNW is a network of organisations and experts that have sometimes been working together for years, meet at conferences, and propagate the message of the tobacco industry. Below is an overview.

Andrews: the spider in the web

The spider in this web is Tim Andrews, who appears on the website with a broad smile. He studied economics, law, and public administration at the University of Sydney. For many years, this libertarian has dedicated himself to the free availability of smoke-free products. For instance, he was the founder of Legalise Vaping Australia in 2017. Andrews wears many hats. He is Director of Consumer Issues for PDNW partner Tholos (formerly the Americans for Tax Reform Foundation) and also for Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), which opposes any tax increase on principle. His roles constantly overlap.

In his capacity as ATR, Andrews delivered a keynote speech last November in Brussels during a conference paid for by the tobbacco industry. He called the ‘global’ bans ‘profoundly immoral’ and claimed that the cartels benefit from them. “Prohibition doesn’t work – it never has,” he said.

Paid by the tobacco industry

Tobacco Tactics points out that in 2017, ATR lobbied the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Philip Morris International’s heated tobacco product, claiming the product was less harmful than traditional cigarettes. Research by The Guardian reveals that in 2018, ATR was also one of the signatories of a letter to the World Health Organisation in which groups opposed plain packaging.

ATR does not disclose its donors, but Tobacco Tactics states that the organisation received funding from tobacco companies such as Altria, Japan Tobacco International, and British American Tobacco. In May 2022, ATR itself organised an online seminar, ‘The Devastating Impact of the FDA’s Proposed Menthol & Flavored Cigar Ban’. According to Tobacco Tactics, Andrews and virtually all participants represented organisations that received funding from the tobacco industry.

Tholos as leading partner

Andrews also frequently appears as representative of Tholos, which is the leading partner within Prohibition Does Not Work. The group also conducts studies for PDNW, which are published on the platform’s website. For instance, Tholos wrote a report on Denmark, together with IPSOS and HBS Economics. This report warns of the ‘risks’ of the Danish plan to implement a nicotine limit of 9 mg per nicotine pouch.

In his role as Director of Consumer Issues at Tholos, Andrews conducted an analysis of international opinion polls and academic research focusing on the negative effects of a flavor ban for vapes: increased smoking and the growth of the black market. The conclusion of the piece, which has been published on the PDNW platform, is that a flavour ban does not limit the damage but actually increases it.

The PDNW website features more pieces by Tholos, such as those on the policy of flavoured vapes (written by Andrews) and on the effectiviness of ‘safer nicotine’.

Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance

The Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance (ATA) is also a partner of Prohibition Does Not Work. None other than Tim Andrews was the founder and former director of ATA. The organisation opposes higher tobacco taxes and measures such as import bans and plain packaging, “echoing industry arguments that it does not work,” writes Tobacco Tactics. ‘Legalise Vaping Australia’ was an initiative of ATA.

“Australia’s prohibition on nicotine vapes and overly restrictive tobacco laws have done nothing to curb demand, they’ve simply pushed both products into the hands of organised crime”, says Brian Marlow, the current director of the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance, on the PDNW website. “The result is a thriving black market where gangs fight over territory, stores are firebombed, and violence spills onto our streets, all while consumers are left with unregulated, potentially dangerous products and taxpayers foot the bill for the chaos.”

ATA also provides no information about funders, writes Tobacco Tactics, but the group has admitted that it received ad hoc social media advice from a consultant at British American Tobacco (BAT). In 2021, the alliance partnered with a vape retail group paid by Philip Morris International in an attempt to block legislation regarding nicotine-containing e-cigarettes in Australia.

Legalise Vaping states that it does not accept money from the tobacco industry. However, it is a partner of World Vapers’ Alliance, an American organisation funded by the Consumer Choice Center (CCC), which receives funding from the tobacco industry.

Warsaw Enterprise Institute

The Polish think tank Warsaw Enterprise Institute (WEI) is also a partner of PDNW. In a post, the new lobby group warns Poland that the proposed ban on disposable vapes and flavoured nicotine pouches could lead to users returning to smoking and the black market expanding. “This policy is fundamentally anti-health, because restricting lower-risk nicotine alternatives is likely to entrench – and potentially strengthen – the habit of smoking conventional cigarettes”, states Sebastian Stodolak, Vice-President of WEI.

Tobacco Tactics ranks WEI among the think tanks. It is part of the Atlas Network. In 2018 (like ATA), WEI signed the lobby letter to the WHO against plain packaging. PMI provided the Polish institute with $25,000 in 2017 and another $30,000 in 2018. When WEI opened a Freedom Lounge in the former Communist Party headquarters in Warsaw in October 2018, PMI was one of the partners. British American Tobacco stated to The Guardian in 2019 that it had also donated to the Warsaw Enterprise Institute, but did not reveal which years were involved.

Institute for Research in Economic and Fiscal Issues

The Institute for Research in Economic and Fiscal Issues (IREF) is a European think tank in Paris linked to the tobacco industry, according to Génération sans tabac. On February 27, IREF published a report funded by Philip Morris France (PMF), titled: ‘State of smoking in France and international comparisons 2022-2023’. According to Génération sans tabac, IREF articulates the tobacco industry’s positions regarding excise taxes. IREF director Nicolas Lecaussin has also personally affiliated himself with PDNW and appears on the website with a photo and biography.

Berlin Kommunikation

Berlin Kommunikation claims to be a communications agency, although it is difficult to deduce from the website what the organisation does. Furthermore, no employees or board members are mentioned. After investigation, it turns out that Jan Burdinski is the managing partner. This political consultant with experience in German and European politics lobbies for lifestyle products such as vapes and nicotine pouches. On X, he writes: “Time for EU member state to rethink the path to a smoke-free Europe. Prohibition is not the right way.”

Just recently, during the Delphi Economic Forum, for which the nicotine industry had turned out, Burdinski participated on April 23 together with Jindrich Voboril of tobacco giant JTI Global in a debate on illegal trade, which was chaired by Andrews, according to a post on X.

Freedom Research Association

The Freedom Research Association (Özgürlük Araştırmaları Derneği) is a think tank in Turkey. Director İsrafil Özkan launched the Turkish Alcohol Public Policy Watch, which informs the public about their right to consume alcohol and the responsibilities associated with it. With that initiative, he won the Europe Think Tank Shark Tank at the Europe Liberty Forum 2022 in Warsaw. Furthermore, he is the founder of the Turkish Vapers’ Alliance, which is also a partner of the Atlas Network.

Experts from various countries

Additionally, PDNW presents various professionals affiliated with the network on its website. Michael Ellis, former assistant director of police services at Interpol, is PDNW’s principal global advisor on illicit trade and organised crime.

Latin America is represented by three individuals. Vinicius Oliveira Bubols is the chairman of the an het Atlantos Institute in Brazil, affiliated with the Atlas Network and the Tholos Foundation. Rodrigo Saraiva Marinho is Director of the Instituto Livre Mercado in Brazil, and Garret Edwards is affiliated with Fundacion Libertad in Argentina.

Gia Jandieri is Vice-Chair of the New Economic School in Georgia, another partner of the Atlas Network. Christopher Snowdon is Head of Lifestyle Economics at the Institute for Economic Affairs in the United Kingdom. Asia is represented by Carmelo Ferlito, CEO of the Center for Market Education in Malaysia, which produces reports on the nicotine industry, among others.

tags:  vape-lobby | pouches | smokeless tobacco | prohibition | EU | lobbyist | tobacco lobby