3 min read
The Politics of Reform: What It Would Take to Change Nicotine Policy—and Why It Hasn't Happened
Nicotine policy reform is politically difficult—because the status quo has powerful defenders and the beneficiaries of reform are disorganized. The politics of reform require building a coalition that can overcome the institutional resistance.
Reforming nicotine policy requires: a coalition of consumers, harm reduction advocates, public health reformers, and policymakers willing to challenge the status quo. **The coalition doesn't exist yet—because consumers are stigmatized and disorganized, advocates are underfunded, reformers are marginalized within their institutions, and policymakers face more pressure from defenders of the status quo than from advocates of change. Building the coalition is the political project of the next decade.**
