The number of teens using nicotine pouches is increasing
Experts have warned of the dangers of the latest popular vaping alternative as the government begins to crack down on the addictive devices.
Last month, JAMA Network published a research paper which looked into the nicotine habits of over 10,000 teenagers in 10th, 11th and 12th grades (equivalent to year 11 to year 13 in the UK).
The researchers found that between 2023 to 2024 the use of nicotine pouches increased from 2023 to 2024, with many youngsters reporting that they use them alongside vaping.
Nicotine pouches are a nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). According to the NHS, NRTs: “Give your body smaller doses of nicotine to help ease cravings in a safer way. You can get them as patches, gum, sprays, or lozenges. You may find it helpful to use a combination of them.”
Nicotine pouches are “teabag-like pouches filled with a fibrous white powder infused with nicotine and other ingredients such as sweeteners and flavourings”, according to Action on Smoking and Health Scotland.
They add: “It is placed in the top lip, where it releases its nicotine and flavour.”
Nicotine pouches are not the same as snus, although the two are commonly confused. Snus is loose tobacco or tobacco in a pouch that is placed in the mouth similar to nicotine pouches, however nicotine patches do not contain tobacco.
Speaking to Business Insider, Adam M. Leventhal, one of the authors of the study, said he was shocked by the “increase” in ZYN use, a Swedish brand of tobacco-free nicotine available to buy in the UK and US.
He explained that the pouches are alluring to teens as they’re more discreet, saying: “They can use them in school without teachers seeing them or even in front of their parents.”
Whilst the nicotine pouches do not contain any tobacco, they are still dangerous a pose a risk to a user’s health.
This is because nicotine is highly addictive and can lead to lung and stomach problems, an increase in blood pressure and heart rate, as well as narrowing arteries. Such symptoms can lead to a heart attack.
“We don’t know what happens, over time, when you have varying strengths of nicotine sitting in your mouth in a pouch,” Meghan Morean, PhD, a research scientist at the Yale Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science, told Yale Medicine.
“It’s possible that the risk is very minimal. But it’s also possible that it has an effect over time.
“There are studies looking at changes in cheek cells, but we don’t have all the information yet.
“We do know that it can irritate your gums in the short term, and some people find that nicotine gives them an upset stomach.”






