Advocates work with the government while activists fight with the government,” Maria Papaionnoy-Duic, the founder of Canadian consumer group Rights 4 Vapers, told the audience. For consumer organizations seeking or protecting people’s right to access the safer nicotine products that can save lives, she concluded, “it’s best to be both.”
Papaionnoy-Duic was speaking at the Global Forum on Nicotine (GFN), which saw hundreds gather in Warsaw, Poland, from June 19-21. The theme of the 2025 edition of this annual event was effective communication for tobacco harm reduction (THR).
That refers, of course, to countering global waves of misinformation about vapes and other safer options, which make people less likely to switch away from deadly combustible tobacco. It also applies to fostering a coherent THR movement—one led, as all harm reduction should be, by people who use the substance in question.
To this end, GFN brings nicotine consumer advocates from all over the world together with scientists, policy experts and other stakeholders, including harm reductionists with different specializations. Canadian safe supply pioneer Dr. Mark Tyndall, for instance, was among the keynote speakers this time around.
“Share your stories!”
Along with Ignacio Leiva, founder of the Association of Vaporizer Consumers of Chile (ASOVAPE), Papaionnoy-Duic hosted a workshop titled, “Mobilising consumer voices for safer nicotine alternatives.” Attendees discussed awareness-raising strategies that are high-impact but low-cost, given how global consumer groups are typically underfunded or not funded at all.
Papaionnoy-Duic described “self-advocacy” as one of the simplest and easiest ways to get the THR message across. “Share your stories!” she urged.
It is personal stories that lie at the heart of the formation of consumer groups: the lives transformed and saved by people who once smoked having been empowered to make healthier choices—together with the many lives needlessly lost. To many impacted people, self-advocacy becomes a moral obligation and the impetus for mobilizing wider support.
Leiva explained that passionate individual stories form “deeply meaningful” connections that then become one story: the story of consumer advocacy.
“We have often received real and valuable support from members of our community,” Leiva told Filter. In the workshop he explained how in 2010, during the infancy of ASOVAPE, a group member developed a complex web application that helped gather personal stories about vaping. “Based on the answers, the application automatically generated a personalized letter telling the member’s story.”
Fast forward to 2025, and Chile has enacted a new law that regulates vapes, rather than banning them.
The letters were sent directly from the person’s own email address to every member of the Health Committee in Chile’s National Congress. “It showed those lawmakers that behind each of those emails was a real person,” Leiva said.
In 2019, ASOVAPE organized what Leiva described as Latin America’s first public pro-vaping protest. Fast forward to 2025, after many struggles, and Chile has enacted a new law that regulates vapes, rather than banning them.
Bucking global trends toward prohibition and restrictions, the law makes a clear distinction between combustible and noncombustible products, and even provides for regulated advertising so consumers can be informed of safer substitutes for cigarettes.
Leiva reminded the audience that effective advocacy doesn’t just rely on weight of numbers, but also on utilizing supporters’ skills. Journalists have helped write texts, printers have donated T-shirts and PR experts have garnered publicity for ASOVAPE, which now boasts a membership of just under 9,000. “All of this not only reflects the commitment that exists within this community, but also the immense talent and generosity that sustains it,” Leiva said.
“Find a science buddy!”
Papaionnoy-Duic has also experienced recent success, spearheading a consumer-led campaign—involving mass letter-writing, meetings with decision-makers and much more—to avert Canada’s threat to ban the vape flavors on which many people rely to switch.
“GFN is a great place if you’re a consumer; you have access to the best scientists and researchers,” Papaionnoy-Duic said.
Notable THR scientists participating included Dr. Riccardo Polosa, professor of internal medicine at the University of Catania, Italy; Dr. Konstantinos Farsalinos of the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center in Greece; United States behavioral scientist Dr. Arielle Selya; and Mexican physicist Dr. Roberto Sussman. Their counterparts in consumer advocacy included representatives of European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (ETHRA), the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) and End Cigarette Smoking Thailand (ECST), among many more.
During her keynote address, Papaionnoy-Duic encouraged her fellow consumers to “find a science buddy” at the conference—both to help enhance their understanding of different parts of the THR world and to help inform that scientist’s work with their own knowledge and experience.
Consumer advocates need this support and more, as they face ongoing smears and exclusion in their work to end smoking-related deaths.
“Stay informed and always respond with truth, dignity and real people’s stories—that’s how we shift the narrative.”
Asa Saligupta is the director of ECST, which works in Thailand amid crackdowns and a sales ban on vapes. He described how ECST’s Facebook account, with over 100,000 followers, had been temporarily blocked. The account exists solely to inform people about THR.
“After some digging around, we found that reports from anti-vapers, the fanatical ‘health’ side, had blamed us for breaking community rules,” Saligupta told Filter. “We’ve been accused of selling and promoting drugs and addictive substances.”
The hostility is palpable everywhere, and often becomes nastily personal—including in countries that have seen THR victories.
Leiva told the workshop attendees how he was publicly shunned by a Chilean senator because of his advocacy work on vapes. The senator accused Leiva of being part of the vape industry, and said that together they were “the new pedophiles of the 21st century.”
“My advice is never take hostility personally; it’s often a reflection of fear, ignorance or vested interests,” Leiva said. “Stay informed and always respond with truth, dignity and real people’s stories—that’s how we shift the narrative.”
Screenshot (cropped) of Maria Papaionnoy-Duic speaking at GFN 2025 via GFN
Filter was an official media partner of GFN, and received assistance with travel and accommodation to attend the event. Both The Influence Foundation, which operates Filter, and the Center of Excellence for the acceleration of Harm Reduction, founded by Dr. Polosa, have received grants from Global Action to End Smoking. Dr. Selya consults for Juul through Pinney Associates; Juul previously provided donations to The Influence Foundation. Filter’s Editorial Independence Policy applies.
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