Illusions, delusions, and a few conclusions

To paraphrase the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland, “if you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there”. Are we thrashing about doing the wrong things in public health and tobacco control because we have wrong or outdated models of the phenomena we are dealing with? Many professionally engaged in tobacco control leadership roles had their formative experience in the heat of the tobacco wars. But is that experience a help or a hindrance now?  How should we understand the drug nicotine, nicotine addiction, the motivation of consumers, youth risk behaviours, the tobacco industry, and the intense opposition to tobacco harm reduction? This presentation goes in search of reliable foundations to underpin our approach to nicotine and public health.