Nicotine pouches a new craze with young Aussies amid vape crackdown

An illegal, Swedish-manufactured nicotine mouth ‘pouch’ has skyrocketed in popularity among young Australians as vapes are harder to get.

Nicotine pouches are being marketed to young people as an alternative to vaping and smoking.

An illegal, Swedish-manufactured nicotine mouth “pouch” has skyrocketed in popularity among young Australians.

Nicotine pouches are small bags filled with synthetic nicotine, tucked between the lip and gums to allow the chemical to absorb into the bloodstream. A pouch can be left in the mouth for up to an hour.

Under the Register of Therapeutic Goods, nicotine pouches cannot be sold legally in Australia. According to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, approval or authority to supply nicotine pouches is conditional on the product being sold in pharmacy settings.

Nicotine pouches aren’t new to the market; popular Scandinavian product Snus made its way to Australia more than 30 years ago but was quickly banned in 1991. Now the pouches have increased in popularity again with ZYN, the leading brand, trending on social media.

ZYN was operated by multinational tobacco company Swedish Match, a subsidiary of Philip Morris and the same company that created Snus.

One tin of 15 pouches with a 3mg or 6mg strength is sold for $33.95, according to the Australian ZYN website. Customers can choose from 10 flavours and order through the website.

A Philip Morris Limited spokesman said the Australian ZYN website is unauthorised and not associated with Philip Morris Australia Limited.

Nicotine mouth ‘pouches’ have skyrocketed in popularity among young Australians.

Health officials are worried young adults are turning to this new form of nicotine as the government cracks down on electronic cigarettes and vapes.

AMA Queensland president Maria Boulton said though Australia is beginning to see the positive impacts of the crackdown with mass seizures of illegal vapes limiting wholesaler access as intended, we are also seeing the negative impacts.

“Now that vapes are becoming harder to get, Big Tobacco is scrambling for new ways to get people hooked, pushing products like nicotine pouches to younger markets,” Dr Boulton said.

“We know nicotine is incredibly addictive and it’s clear Big Tobacco is profiting off getting new generations addicted.

“The government needs to put this back on to the manufacturers to ensure new products with the potential to harm children aren’t continuing to enter the market.”

AMA vice-president Danielle McMullen said the AMA does not want to see children and young people switching to another mechanism of nicotine dependence.

“We need to take steps to protect them from (switching to nicotine patches),” Dr McMullen said. “We remain supportive of the legislative amendments to … get vapes out of the hands of our children.”

Dr McMullen said while nicotine patches are illegal here, people are still able to purchase from international websites.

“It is frustrating from a medical perspective, how easy (it is) for people to log on to a website online, order them and have them (delivered),” Dr McMullen said.

“We do hear reports of people using them even though they’re not TGA-approved, registered here or regulated. We really have no idea of how much is being imported into the country and how widespread the use is, unlike a vape. You can’t see people using it, it’s a hidden use of nicotine.”

Many other Australian authorities are worried about the marketing of nicotine pouches.

A TGA spokesman said the federal government is aware and concerned about the rising profile of nicotine pouches.

“The targeting of children is particularly concerning given the risks of nicotine to population health,” he said. “There is no strong evidence to support the use of nicotine pouches for smoking or vaping cessation.”

Cancer Council Victoria chief executive and former Quit director Todd Harper said the commodification of addiction is “incredibly concerning”.

“It’s clear, looking at these products, they are … aimed at a young market and the products do nothing to explain to people the risks of nicotine,” he said.

“We have a health system that is designed to provide people with factual information about the health consequences of any medication or drugs … To be marketing these products in such a blind and risk-free way is incredibly concerning. Particularly … how these flavours and the marketing are being done to appeal to a young market.”

A spokesman for Philip Morris Limited said the company “does not commercialise ZYN in Australia”.

“PM Australia Limited takes its responsibilities under the law seriously,’’ the spokesman said.

“When we recently learned about two websites advertising nicotine pouches in Australia via .au domains, we undertook efforts to have these websites removed by notifying the Australian regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, given the powers available to them to take action”.

Nicotine pouches are being marketed to young people as an alternative to vaping and smoking. Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images