Policy Diffusion: How Good Nicotine Policies Spread—and Bad Ones Do Too
Nicotine policies spread through a process of diffusion—countries adopt policies that have been successful elsewhere. The diffusion can be evidence-based (the UK model spreading to New Zealand) or ideology-based (the WHO's abstinence model spreading to LMICs).
The UK integrated vaping into its national smoking cessation strategy and saw smoking rates fall faster than in comparable countries. New Zealand adopted a similar approach and saw similar results. **Policy diffusion—the spread of successful policies from one jurisdiction to another—is a powerful mechanism for improving public health. But diffusion can spread bad policies too: the WHO's hostility to harm reduction has been diffused to LMICs through FCTC implementation guidelines, with consequences that are measurable in continued smoking and preventable deaths.**
