OPINION: If Kenya bans flavours, cigarettes will win

In the ongoing debate about the use of flavours in nicotine products, one voice always seems to go unheard. That is the voice of the adult smokers who are desperate to quit their deadly habit. 

Evidence, including Kenyan surveys, shows non-tobacco flavours help smokers switch to less risky alternatives.

Outlawing flavours, as proposed in the Tobacco Bill currently being discussed in parliament, will simply trap those smokers with no alternatives to traditional cigarettes, or drive them to unregulated products in the illicit market.

We are told this Bill is “not a ban”. But when you remove the flavours that adult smokers actually use to quit, you effectively remove the product’s appeal and functionality. A measure does not have to outlaw a product outright to make it commercially or practically unviable.

Those who support a ban on flavours say it is intended to curb underage use, a goal we all share. But protecting young people requires targeted safeguards - strict age verification, retail licensing, advertising restrictions and product standards - not measures that remove effective tools from adults while leaving cigarettes untouched. 

Smokeless nicotine products, such as vapes and nicotine pouches, offer smokers a realistic off-ramp from traditional cigarettes that are combusted. The challenge before lawmakers is not whether to regulate these products, but how to do so in a way that protects youth and helps adults quit smoking. 

It is right to ensure nicotine products do not appeal to minors. Genuinely youth-oriented flavours and playful marketing should be prohibited.

But there is a big difference between targeted safeguards and a blanket flavour ban.

Certain flavours play an important role in helping adult smokers transition away from cigarettes. Mint and citrus flavours, for example, are not inherently child-appealing and have long been used in adult products, including nicotine replacement sprays and lozenges. A proportionate approach would minimise youth appeal without undermining adult switching.

Experience abroad offers sobering lessons. Denmark banned most e-cigarette flavours in 2022. Since then, youth vaping has risen while adults source banned flavours from informal markets. 

Research from Yale found adults using non-tobacco flavours were more likely to quit smoking   and that when flavoured products disappear from legal shelves, cigarette sales rise.  

Kenyan data points in the same direction. A CASA survey found most users believe illicit alternatives would be easy to find if flavours were banned. Bans don’t eliminate demand; they shift it underground. 

That should concern every policymaker. Illicit trade means no quality controls, no age verification, lost tax revenue and greater risks for consumers.

There must be a better strategy than that. Rather than banning all flavours, Kenya could adopt a small list of limited, adult-oriented flavours, such as menthol, mint, berry and citrus that are allowed. This would reduce youth appeal while preserving options that help adults to quit smoking.

Keeping consumers in a tightly regulated legal market allows product standards, taxation and age restrictions to be enforced, while reducing incentives to turn to illicit traders.

Kenya’s goal should be simple: fewer smokers, fewer deaths and fewer young people starting nicotine use. That requires proportional regulation: strict on youth access, clear on product standards and realistic about adult behaviour. If we remove the alternatives that help smokers quit, cigarettes will remain the default. 

Those cigarettes kill nearly 9,000 Kenyans each year. The question before lawmakers is whether the new Bill will reduce that number or simply protect the status quo.

 The writer, Joseph Magero, is the chairman of Campaign for Safer Alternatives (CASA)