Dr James Martin
@jamomartin.bsky.social
Course Director at Deakin Criminology. Co-creator of Black Market Economics. Tobacco Harm Reduction Advisor for Harm Reduction Australia. Views my own.
Pinned
Dr James Martin
@jamomartin.bsky.social
· Mar 24
Check out the new paper from @edjegasothy.bsky.social
and me - 'Fanning the flame: analysing the emergence, implications, and challenges of Australia’s de facto war on nicotine', now published in Harm Reduction Journal. Thread below with the key findings and link to open access paper. 🧵
and me - 'Fanning the flame: analysing the emergence, implications, and challenges of Australia’s de facto war on nicotine', now published in Harm Reduction Journal. Thread below with the key findings and link to open access paper. 🧵
Reposted by Dr James Martin
Recent Australian tobacco policy has unfortunately been a battle between pro- & anti- harm reduction advocates with pro-HR winning all arguments but anti-HR policy being increased with tragic results. Betting against HR generally loses @jamomartin.bsky.social @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social
@jamomartin.bsky.social was way ahead of the curve on what would happen to the black market due to increased taxes. This article was 8 years ago. He saw the writing on the wall back then.
@alexwodak.bsky.social @drbfreeman.bsky.social @melissasweetdr.bsky.social
t.co/NoerUKEif4
@alexwodak.bsky.social @drbfreeman.bsky.social @melissasweetdr.bsky.social
t.co/NoerUKEif4
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/article/expert-analysis-tax-increase-on-cigarettes-will-trigger-black-market-boom-of-tainted-tobacco/6jg4cbxwx
t.co
September 30, 2025 at 7:47 AM
Recent Australian tobacco policy has unfortunately been a battle between pro- & anti- harm reduction advocates with pro-HR winning all arguments but anti-HR policy being increased with tragic results. Betting against HR generally loses @jamomartin.bsky.social @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social
An eye-watering 34% increase in illicit drug consumption between 2023-24. Even more concerning, drug expenditure also actually decreased over that period. In other words, illicit drugs are getting cheaper.
Time for a radical rethink about our heavy reliance on supply reduction.
Time for a radical rethink about our heavy reliance on supply reduction.
The latest wastewater survey reveals Australians have consumed record amounts of meth, cocaine and heroin.
Australia's meth, cocaine, MDMA and heroin use up by 34 per cent
The latest wastewater survey reveals Australians have consumed record amounts of meth, cocaine and heroin.
www.abc.net.au
August 15, 2025 at 12:58 AM
An eye-watering 34% increase in illicit drug consumption between 2023-24. Even more concerning, drug expenditure also actually decreased over that period. In other words, illicit drugs are getting cheaper.
Time for a radical rethink about our heavy reliance on supply reduction.
Time for a radical rethink about our heavy reliance on supply reduction.
Reposted by Dr James Martin
A new study shows smoking and vaping rates increasing since the government's vape crackdown in 2024. A different strategy is needed.
Australia’s war on nicotine is failing. A smarter strategy is needed
www.crikey.com.au
July 30, 2025 at 3:15 AM
A new study shows smoking and vaping rates increasing since the government's vape crackdown in 2024. A different strategy is needed.
Reposted by Dr James Martin
The Drug Policy Alliance explains the Paradox of Prohibition. That is, the worst outcomes are achieved with either a totally unregulated free market or with prohibition. The least worst outcomes are achieved with a ‘Goldilocks’ (not too hot, not too cold) system of regulation. @sanho.bsky.social
July 24, 2025 at 8:28 PM
The Drug Policy Alliance explains the Paradox of Prohibition. That is, the worst outcomes are achieved with either a totally unregulated free market or with prohibition. The least worst outcomes are achieved with a ‘Goldilocks’ (not too hot, not too cold) system of regulation. @sanho.bsky.social
Reposted by Dr James Martin
Fiona Patten skewers abject failure of Australia’s tobacco & vape policies which slowed smoking decline, boosted violent black market, made multi billion dollar hole in government annual revenue & survives thanks to tsunami of disinformation @paulbongiorno.bsky.social
www.smh.com.au/national/aus...
www.smh.com.au/national/aus...
Australia has become the global village idiot on quitting smoking
Every day, 66 Australians die from the effects of smoking – not from an addiction to nicotine, but from the toxic delivery mechanism of cigarettes.
www.smh.com.au
July 24, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Fiona Patten skewers abject failure of Australia’s tobacco & vape policies which slowed smoking decline, boosted violent black market, made multi billion dollar hole in government annual revenue & survives thanks to tsunami of disinformation @paulbongiorno.bsky.social
www.smh.com.au/national/aus...
www.smh.com.au/national/aus...
Reposted by Dr James Martin
When Australia’s tobacco & vape policies failed, authorities doubled down on policies that didn’t work & can’t work. Restricting availability of safer vapes but keeping deadly cigarettes readily available always was insane @jamomartin.bsky.social
www.aspistrategist.org.au/vapes-violen...
www.aspistrategist.org.au/vapes-violen...
Vapes, violence and the law of diminishing returns: rethinking Australia’s nicotine strategy | The Strategist
There’s a new war on Australian streets, and it’s not just about tobacco or vapes; it’s about control, cash and crime. While Australia once led the world in cutting smoking rates, the rise of illicit ...
www.aspistrategist.org.au
July 24, 2025 at 12:37 AM
When Australia’s tobacco & vape policies failed, authorities doubled down on policies that didn’t work & can’t work. Restricting availability of safer vapes but keeping deadly cigarettes readily available always was insane @jamomartin.bsky.social
www.aspistrategist.org.au/vapes-violen...
www.aspistrategist.org.au/vapes-violen...
Reposted by Dr James Martin
The curious case of the disappearing smoking data. The Roy Morgan release was unequivocal: smoking rates among young adults are up after vaping ban which had "demonstrably failed". And then it disappeared and was replaced with something more amenable. www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/health/...
Exclusive: Smoking data taken down after link to vape ban
A report showing increased smoking and vaping among young Australians was pulled after it embarrassed the government and led to complaints from other researchers.
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au
July 19, 2025 at 7:18 AM
The curious case of the disappearing smoking data. The Roy Morgan release was unequivocal: smoking rates among young adults are up after vaping ban which had "demonstrably failed". And then it disappeared and was replaced with something more amenable. www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/health/...
Reposted by Dr James Martin
Supply reduction (i.e., border control, law enforcement) is notoriously ineffective, expensive, and comes with a whole range of negative consequences that will likely make the problem worse, not better.
Here is the full paper for those interested in a deeper dive: link.springer.com/content/pdf/...
Here is the full paper for those interested in a deeper dive: link.springer.com/content/pdf/...
link.springer.com
June 22, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Supply reduction (i.e., border control, law enforcement) is notoriously ineffective, expensive, and comes with a whole range of negative consequences that will likely make the problem worse, not better.
Here is the full paper for those interested in a deeper dive: link.springer.com/content/pdf/...
Here is the full paper for those interested in a deeper dive: link.springer.com/content/pdf/...
Reposted by Dr James Martin
‘A terrified tobacco runner was forced to tie up his friends and then bind his own feet, before Alameddine gangsters allegedly began cutting off his big toe in a horrific moment that illustrates how violence is part of doing business in Sydney’s gang wars’
www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...
www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...
Tobacco and toe-cutting: The black market driving gang violence
Black market tobacco “rips” are fuelling gang violence in Sydney. Court files show the way brutal tactics are used to secure market dominance.
www.smh.com.au
June 22, 2025 at 10:30 PM
‘A terrified tobacco runner was forced to tie up his friends and then bind his own feet, before Alameddine gangsters allegedly began cutting off his big toe in a horrific moment that illustrates how violence is part of doing business in Sydney’s gang wars’
www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...
www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...
Reposted by Dr James Martin
Australia risks losing ‘war on nicotine’ in same way as war on drugs as illegal tobacco sales explode
Australia risks losing ‘war on nicotine’ in same way as war on drugs as illegal tobacco sales explode
Authorities should take a ‘harm reduction’ approach, removing excise for a period and making vapes more available, experts argue
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Australia is now waging a “de facto war on nicotine” that is doomed to fail in the same way as previous prohibition-style policies, experts say, amid a growing debate about how to respond to an explosion in the illicit tobacco trade.
As health experts warn against changes that would undermine decades of fighting to bring down smoking rates, James Martin, a criminology lecturer at Deakin University, and Edward Jegasothy, an epidemiologist at the University of Sydney’s School of Public Health, have called for a major overhaul in how we tax tobacco and regulate vaping products. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
June 22, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Australia risks losing ‘war on nicotine’ in same way as war on drugs as illegal tobacco sales explode
Reposted by Dr James Martin
Renowned THR expert Prof. Riccardo Polosa et al raise serious concerns re flawed meta-analytic practices leading to exaggerated claims re health risks of vaping
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
When meta-analysis misleads: the need for methodological integrity in e-cigarette research - Internal and Emergency Medicine
Internal and Emergency Medicine -
link.springer.com
June 19, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Renowned THR expert Prof. Riccardo Polosa et al raise serious concerns re flawed meta-analytic practices leading to exaggerated claims re health risks of vaping
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Great to see a new pill testing site in Fitzroy!
Also worth noting that harm reduction remains grossly underfunded across Australia, receiving just 1.6% of total drug funding, despite its much great efficacy in reducing drug related harm than supply or demand reduction.
Also worth noting that harm reduction remains grossly underfunded across Australia, receiving just 1.6% of total drug funding, despite its much great efficacy in reducing drug related harm than supply or demand reduction.
The Victorian government has announced the location of the state's first permanent pill testing centre.
Permanent pill testing site announced for Fitzroy
The Victorian government has announced the location of the state's first permanent pill testing centre.
www.abc.net.au
June 16, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Great to see a new pill testing site in Fitzroy!
Also worth noting that harm reduction remains grossly underfunded across Australia, receiving just 1.6% of total drug funding, despite its much great efficacy in reducing drug related harm than supply or demand reduction.
Also worth noting that harm reduction remains grossly underfunded across Australia, receiving just 1.6% of total drug funding, despite its much great efficacy in reducing drug related harm than supply or demand reduction.
Reposted by Dr James Martin
In denial. Australia unable to reduce illicit supply cigarettes & associated violence unless some reduction in excessive excise. Can’t arrest its way out
@jamomartin.bsky.social @edjegasothy.bsky.social @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social @ianamossyd.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
@jamomartin.bsky.social @edjegasothy.bsky.social @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social @ianamossyd.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
www.theguardian.com
June 5, 2025 at 4:45 AM
In denial. Australia unable to reduce illicit supply cigarettes & associated violence unless some reduction in excessive excise. Can’t arrest its way out
@jamomartin.bsky.social @edjegasothy.bsky.social @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social @ianamossyd.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
@jamomartin.bsky.social @edjegasothy.bsky.social @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social @ianamossyd.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Reposted by Dr James Martin
Check out the new paper from @edjegasothy.bsky.social
and me - 'Fanning the flame: analysing the emergence, implications, and challenges of Australia’s de facto war on nicotine', now published in Harm Reduction Journal. Thread below with the key findings and link to open access paper. 🧵
and me - 'Fanning the flame: analysing the emergence, implications, and challenges of Australia’s de facto war on nicotine', now published in Harm Reduction Journal. Thread below with the key findings and link to open access paper. 🧵
March 24, 2025 at 5:47 AM
Check out the new paper from @edjegasothy.bsky.social
and me - 'Fanning the flame: analysing the emergence, implications, and challenges of Australia’s de facto war on nicotine', now published in Harm Reduction Journal. Thread below with the key findings and link to open access paper. 🧵
and me - 'Fanning the flame: analysing the emergence, implications, and challenges of Australia’s de facto war on nicotine', now published in Harm Reduction Journal. Thread below with the key findings and link to open access paper. 🧵
And another two firebombings overnight in QLD, resulting in "potentially life-threatening" burns to 2 men.
Police do not have the time or resources to control this. The economic forces of supply and demand are too great. Need to improve legal supply.
www.news.com.au/national/que...
Police do not have the time or resources to control this. The economic forces of supply and demand are too great. Need to improve legal supply.
www.news.com.au/national/que...
May 30, 2025 at 12:05 AM
And another two firebombings overnight in QLD, resulting in "potentially life-threatening" burns to 2 men.
Police do not have the time or resources to control this. The economic forces of supply and demand are too great. Need to improve legal supply.
www.news.com.au/national/que...
Police do not have the time or resources to control this. The economic forces of supply and demand are too great. Need to improve legal supply.
www.news.com.au/national/que...
Reposted by Dr James Martin
Clive Bates outlines dangers of e-cigarette [#vape] prohibition & illicit trade. Often tobacco controls supports vy strict restrictions, not quite complete ban but unintended effects like prohibition @jamomartin.bsky.social @edjegasothy.bsky.social
#auspol
clivebates.com/the-danger-o...
#auspol
clivebates.com/the-danger-o...
clivebates.com
May 28, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Clive Bates outlines dangers of e-cigarette [#vape] prohibition & illicit trade. Often tobacco controls supports vy strict restrictions, not quite complete ban but unintended effects like prohibition @jamomartin.bsky.social @edjegasothy.bsky.social
#auspol
clivebates.com/the-danger-o...
#auspol
clivebates.com/the-danger-o...
Gangland shootings in NSW. Arson attacks and extortion in Victoria. Just another week in Australia's ever worsening #tobaccowars.
Anyone starting to think that the creeping prohibition of our 3rd most popular recreational drug (after caffeine & alcohol) is not the best idea?
Anyone starting to think that the creeping prohibition of our 3rd most popular recreational drug (after caffeine & alcohol) is not the best idea?
A Melbourne man has been sentenced to at least 18 months in jail after threatening workers at tobacco stores in north-east Victoria in 2023.
Man jailed for threatening workers at Wodonga, Wangaratta tobacco stores
A Melbourne man has been sentenced to at least 18 months in jail after threatening workers at tobacco stores in north-east Victoria in 2023.
www.abc.net.au
May 28, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Gangland shootings in NSW. Arson attacks and extortion in Victoria. Just another week in Australia's ever worsening #tobaccowars.
Anyone starting to think that the creeping prohibition of our 3rd most popular recreational drug (after caffeine & alcohol) is not the best idea?
Anyone starting to think that the creeping prohibition of our 3rd most popular recreational drug (after caffeine & alcohol) is not the best idea?
Reposted by Dr James Martin
Police have vowed to "find every single one of these crooks" with a new mega taskforce formed in response to a spate of underworld attacks to rock Sydney in the past fortnight.
'A cell or in the morgue': Grim warning as mega taskforce targets underworld
Police have vowed to "find every single one of these crooks" with a new mega taskforce formed in response to a spate of underworld attacks to rock Sydney in the past fortnight.
www.abc.net.au
May 27, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Police have vowed to "find every single one of these crooks" with a new mega taskforce formed in response to a spate of underworld attacks to rock Sydney in the past fortnight.
It was the tax man that took down Al Capone, but it was ending Prohibition that ultimately killed the black market.
Stiffening penalties for selling illicit nicotine might sound like a good idea but it's unlikely to work given the scale of the problem.
www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...
Stiffening penalties for selling illicit nicotine might sound like a good idea but it's unlikely to work given the scale of the problem.
www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...
Big fines v bigger business: tobacco’s lucrative side laid bare
It was business as usual in the industry last week: financial penalties were issued, authorities announced new measures and business boomed.
www.smh.com.au
May 25, 2025 at 11:23 PM
It was the tax man that took down Al Capone, but it was ending Prohibition that ultimately killed the black market.
Stiffening penalties for selling illicit nicotine might sound like a good idea but it's unlikely to work given the scale of the problem.
www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...
Stiffening penalties for selling illicit nicotine might sound like a good idea but it's unlikely to work given the scale of the problem.
www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...
Reposted by Dr James Martin
"The tobacco tax is a disaster playing out on our streets and in our budget"
www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...
www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...
The tobacco tax is a disaster playing out on our streets and in our budget
From bombed-out tobacconists in Melbourne to a $43 billion hole in the budget, the use of excise on tobacco is failing.
www.smh.com.au
May 19, 2025 at 4:02 AM
"The tobacco tax is a disaster playing out on our streets and in our budget"
www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...
www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...
Frustrating to read the 'a child could enforce this' arguments here. Vapes alone constitute the 2nd largest illicit drug market in the country. There is no feasible level of enforcement that can contain a black market of this size and profitability.
www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...
www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...
60 tobacconists for every McDonald’s: How Sydney’s streets became consumed by smoke shops
Take a walk down a main street in Sydney and you’ll notice that tobacco is still big business, even with less than 10 per cent of the population now smoking.
www.smh.com.au
May 18, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Frustrating to read the 'a child could enforce this' arguments here. Vapes alone constitute the 2nd largest illicit drug market in the country. There is no feasible level of enforcement that can contain a black market of this size and profitability.
www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...
www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...
Reposted by Dr James Martin
Coalition 100% right to accept Australia’s black market model vaping policy has been abject failure either requiring doctors prescription or buy from chemist. NZ realistic policy much better @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social @jamomartin.bsky.social @edjegasothy.bsky.social @ianamossyd.bsky.social
Coalition plan to make vapes more widely available ‘exactly what big tobacco wants’, public health experts warn
Coalition plan to make vapes more widely available ‘exactly what big tobacco wants’, public health experts warn
A Dutton government would allow vapes to be legally sold in retail stores rather than restricted to pharmacies in bid to raise $3.6bn in tax revenue
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The Coalition’s plan to raise $3.6bn by increasing tax on vapes and making them more widely available would lead to “serious short and long term harm” and is “exactly what big tobacco have been asking for”, according to public health experts.
The experts, who are calling on the Coalition to apologise for the policy, believe it is not based on “credible evidence” and that the savings cannot be achieved unless current regulation – supported by all states and territory governments – is completely dismantled. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
May 2, 2025 at 2:44 AM
Coalition 100% right to accept Australia’s black market model vaping policy has been abject failure either requiring doctors prescription or buy from chemist. NZ realistic policy much better @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social @jamomartin.bsky.social @edjegasothy.bsky.social @ianamossyd.bsky.social
Some of the best reporting I've seen on this issue 👇
While headlines on the so-called tobacco wars focus on firebombings, extortion and gangland jealousies, skyrocketing government taxes on tobacco have long been fuelling the fire behind the scenes.
How government taxes have fuelled the tobacco wars
While headlines on the so-called tobacco wars focus on firebombings, extortion and gangland jealousies, skyrocketing government taxes on tobacco have long been fuelling the fire behind the scenes.
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au
April 23, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Some of the best reporting I've seen on this issue 👇
Reposted by Dr James Martin
While headlines on the so-called tobacco wars focus on firebombings, extortion and gangland jealousies, skyrocketing government taxes on tobacco have long been fuelling the fire behind the scenes.
How government taxes have fuelled the tobacco wars
While headlines on the so-called tobacco wars focus on firebombings, extortion and gangland jealousies, skyrocketing government taxes on tobacco have long been fuelling the fire behind the scenes.
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au
April 23, 2025 at 10:02 PM
While headlines on the so-called tobacco wars focus on firebombings, extortion and gangland jealousies, skyrocketing government taxes on tobacco have long been fuelling the fire behind the scenes.
