New policy of people-first language to replace 'smoker', 'vaper' 'tobacco user' and other behaviour-based labels

Tobacco Control has long recognised the power of language in defining and framing the commercial tobacco pandemic. Language shapes our understanding of health behaviours, and the contexts in which they occur. As the tobacco control research field evolves, so too does our shared language. This helps the public health community to frame issues based on evidence, ensure precision and resist tobacco industry-preferred narratives in favour of more neutral terms, as well as making visible to the public and policymakers the forces driving the tobacco pandemic. Perhaps most importantly, it highlights that the commercial tobacco pandemic is not merely the result of individual behaviour choices, but rather reflects systems failures by governments which created and perpetuate exceptionalism for the tobacco industry, allowing it to continue to ply the deadliest trade in human history...