Nicotine Pouches: a Latest Harm-Reduced Alternative to Smoking

In recent years, the global number of smokers has steadily declined. According to the WHO’s report on global tobacco use trends, there are about 1 in 5 adults consuming tobacco globally in 2022, compared to 1 in 3 in 2000. The study also estimated that by 2030, the number of tobacco users will further decrease to 1.2 billion from the current 1.25 billion.

Reasons for the decline in tobacco use may include the improvement of public health awareness, rigid market restrictions, and the prevalence of newer smoking substitutes, such as e-cigarettes or vaping.

As we all know, cigarette smoking is the most dangerous form of tobacco consumption, responsible for half of user deaths. One of the more recent alternatives is oral nicotine pouches, which were introduced in 2016 as a harm-reduction tool for smokers, particularly cigarette users.

So, are nicotine pouches a safer alternative to smoking?

In this article, we will discuss this issue by comparing nicotine pouches with cigarette smoking in terms of ingredients, ways of consuming, and effects on human health. But before we delve into the topic, we must understand the health risks of smoking and the causes behind them.

What Are the Health Risks of Smoking?

Cigarette smoking affects every part of our human body, including the lungs, heart, blood vessels, and so on. Some of the most severe diseases caused by smoking include lung cancer, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), heart disease, stroke, asthma, reproductive health in women, etc.

For example, smoking tobacco remains the leading cause of lung cancer. According to the report of the National Institute of Health, it is estimated that smoking is responsible for 90% of lung cancer risk in men and 70 to 80% in women, and accounts for about 80% of deaths from the disease.

Apart from causing gruesome diseases, smoking can also lead to other annoying health issues, such as bad breath, as cigarette smoke will dry out your mouth and promote the growth of bacteria. Bad breath is usually considered a social horror, affecting a person’s social interaction.

Moreover, smoking can cause cosmetic changes in your appearance, such as smoking fingertips(yellow-brown staining on the areas of fingers from exposure to the chemicals in tobacco tar), stained teeth, and premature aging, such as a leathery texture and deep wrinkling.

Simply put, smoking harms our health in many ways, from increasing the risk of cancer and other serious diseases to altering a person’s physical appearance. These wide-ranging effects make it clear that quitting smoking is one of the best choices for long-term well-being.

What Makes Cigarette Smoking so Dangerous?

When it comes to the risk factors of smoking, nicotine is usually regarded as the main reason. As a matter of fact, nicotine is not the root cause that leads to smoking-related diseases and deaths.

Nicotine, a stimulant found in tobacco, makes smoking addictive. While not directly responsible for smoking-related diseases, its addictive nature prolongs exposure to harmful tobacco chemicals.

The real killer behind smoking, instead, is tobacco and tobacco smoke. The FDA has made an established list of  93 known harmful and potential constituents (HPHCs) in tobacco products and tobacco smoke.

Some of these 93 HPHCs include acetaldehyde, acetamide, arsenic, benzene, 1,3-butadiene, cadmium, carbon monoxide, lead, tobacco-specific nitrosamines, etc.

According to the FDA, there are three main sources of harmful chemicals in cigarettes.

Some toxic chemicals, such as cadmium and lead, are naturally present in tobacco plants, which build up as the plants grow.

A number of toxins like nitrosamines can be produced during the manufacturing, curing, and aging process of tobacco.

Most of the harmful chemicals are produced by burning cigarettes to release cigarette smoke, which has been proven to contain more than 70 carcinogenic chemicals.

All these toxic substances and carcinogens are responsible for smoking-related deaths and diseases.

Thus, staying away from tobacco and tobacco smoke is the best option that smokers can make for the sake of their health and well-being. This is where newer types of tobacco-free smokeless products like nicotine pouches come in to substitute cigarettes and other tobacco products.

Are Nicotine Pouches a Safer Alternative to Smoking?

As mentioned above, the primary risk factors of smoking lie in tobacco and tobacco smoke.

Unlike cigarettes, which contain tobacco, nicotine pouches are tobacco-free. These small tea-bag-like pouches only contain nicotine, sweeteners, flavorings, and plant-based fibers.

Since nicotine pouches are tobacco-free, they don’t contain toxins and carcinogens found in tobacco, which is one of the reasons why manufacturers market them as a safer alternative to cigarette smoking.

Nicotine pouches don’t require burning or combustion. What you need to do is simply place them between your gum and lip, where nicotine is absorbed through the mouth’s mucous membranes.

In other words, nicotine pouches don’t produce toxins and carcinogenic chemicals which are created by burning tobacco, and which are the leading cause of various preventable deaths and diseases.

In the United States, for example, statistics show that cigarette smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke lead to 480,000 premature deaths every year, of which 36% die of cancer, 39% die of heart disease and stroke, and 24% die of lung diseases.

That’s to say, smokers can avoid the health risks of smoking by replacing cigarettes with nicotine pouches.

Nicotine Pouches Are Not Suitable for Non-Smokers

While nicotine pouches are potentially less harmful than cigarette smoking, they are not risk-free, as they contain nicotine, and nicotine itself has some risks.

The nicotine in nicotine pouches can be synthetic or derived from tobacco, and nicotine pouches are sold in a variety of strengths and brands. Each pouch may contain anywhere from 2mg to 20mg or even more of nicotine per pouch.

It means that the nicotine levels of nicotine pouches can be comparable to that of cigarettes (6-28 mg per cigarette) or other smokeless tobacco products such as snus.

As we all know, nicotine is a highly addictive stimulant and anyone can get addicted to it. It’s not recommended to start using nicotine as it’s one of the hardest habits to quit.

Also, nicotine will stimulate the release of epinephrine and norepinephrine in the body, the hormones that will raise people’s blood pressure.

Moreover, studies have shown that nicotine can change the chemistry of a developing brain, impacting learning, attention span, and proneness to addiction. It means that teens and adolescents will be more vulnerable to nicotine addiction than adults.

In one word, non-smokers, especially teenagers, should not pick up the habit of using nicotine pouches.

In Conclusion

Smoking cessation is always the best choice for all smokers, but the fact is that quitting smoking can be one of the biggest challenges smokers ever face, mainly due to cravings for nicotine and withdrawal symptoms, which keep most smokers from being able to quit.

So, if you are not ready or unable to quit, it may be a reasonable choice to seek a less harmful way.

Switching completely from cigarettes to nicotine pouches can lower your risk of having cancers, heart disease, lung diseases, and many other health issues caused by smoking, as they don’t contain toxins and carcinogens related to tobacco and cigarette smoke.

However, if you are currently a non-smoker, you are not encouraged to consume any form of nicotine products because they are addictive and have other negative effects on the human body.