The Expertise Monopoly: Why a Small Group of People Controls Global Nicotine Policy
The FCTC Conference of the Parties, the WHO tobacco control program, and a handful of major NGOs dominate global nicotine policy. The expertise monopoly is self-perpetuating, ideologically homogeneous, and resistant to external challenge.
The same people who write the FCTC guidelines also review the evidence, advise governments, and train the next generation of tobacco control professionals. The expertise monopoly is self-perpetuating: it controls who is considered an expert, what evidence is considered valid, and what policies are considered legitimate. **The monopoly is not a conspiracy. It's the natural outcome of a system in which expertise, funding, and institutional authority are concentrated. Challenging it requires creating alternative sources of expertise—and including the people whose lives are at stake.**
