An international research team from the Rutgers Institute for Nicotine and Tobacco Studies has published new evidence suggesting that nicotine pouches could provide a pathway for adult tobacco users to reduce harm.
The study, appearing in JAMA Network Open, represents the first national estimate of daily nicotine pouch use among US adults.
Although the products are not marketed as smoking-cessation aids, the analysis found that many users had recently quit smoking or vaping, implying a potential role in harm-reduction efforts.
“For people who smoke or use other nicotine products and don’t want to stop using nicotine, switching completely from the more harmful product and moving down the risk continuum with nicotine pouches is likely good for public health,” said lead researcher Cristine Delnevo, director of the institute.
Nicotine is a chemical compound naturally found in the tobacco plant. It is addictive, but does not itself cause cancer, according to studies.
The study arrives as nations prepare for the 11th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP11) of the WHO FCTC in Geneva this November, where public-health advocates are urging the World Health Organization’s tobacco control treaty to adopt harm-reduction strategies to tackle global smoking.
Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022-2023 Tobacco Use Supplement covering more than 110,000 adults, researchers examined nicotine-pouch and traditional tobacco use, as well as quitting behavior before and after 2019, when pouches became widely available nationally.
They found that only 2.5 % of U.S. adults were daily users of nicotine pouches. Usage was highest among non-Hispanic white men, and “virtually nonexistent” among adults who had never used tobacco.
In the Philippines, the Nicotine Consumers Union of the Philippines (NCUP) president Anton Israel commented: “Less harmful alternatives exist for smokers who wish to reduce the harm from combustible cigarettes. Smoke-free products such as nicotine pouches, which are also available in the Philippines, could provide nicotine consumers a way out of smoking, while continuing their nicotine consumption habits.”
Delnevo noted that the highest prevalence of current and daily nicotine-pouch use was among adults who had recently quit other tobacco products, suggesting the pouches may have played a role. “Our results suggest that adults may be using nicotine pouches for harm reduction, given that use is highest among those that have recently quit another tobacco product or e-cigarettes,” she said.
She added a caveat: “People who have never used tobacco products should not suddenly be using nicotine pouches.”
Meanwhile, co-author Mary Hrywna, associate professor in the Department of Health Behavior, Society and Policy at the Rutgers School of Public Health, said: “This study offers a snapshot of use patterns that is informative and, at least for now, somewhat reassuring.”
