To stop that crisis in its tracks, we need to act now. Myriad strategies would help, including eliminating flavored pouches and reducing the amount of nicotine in the products, as well as regulating their marketing and stopping companies from making deceptive claims. And while we await such regulation, informing educators, parents and teens about the harms of nicotine pouches will be key.
While rates of pouch use remain behind e-cigarette use, more students reported using pouches than cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco or any other form of nicotine. Nicotine pouches were the only product whose use increased in the survey, while the popularity of other products declined or remained stable.
Each pouch contains nicotine powder that is either derived from tobacco plants or synthetically produced, as well as other ingredients like acidity regulators and flavorings. Those flavors can be dessert-like, fruity, minty, and reminiscent of coffee or cocktails — all of which appeal to young people.
Nicotine use can negatively affect teens' attention and impede their impulse control, hurting their academic performance and mental health. In regards to physical health, data suggest that smokeless oral nicotine products may harm some aspects of heart health and raise the risk of death in people with existing heart disease.
Tobacco companies are employing the same advertising tropes that they've successfully used to lure young users in the past. (Image credit: Peter Dazeley via Getty Images)Rates of e-cigarette use also started low, and by the time national data finally showed a clear increase, their use was already a deeply entrenched behavior among adolescents, with many addicted. Furthermore, national surveillance studies are, by design, snapshots in time and often lag behind what is happening in real time in classrooms and communities.
It became clear that we must create a specific approach to prevent teens from using pouches — so, we created a course called Not So Sweet: Oral Nicotine and Smokeless Tobacco Prevention Curriculum.
We're heartened that people are already engaging with the course, because we might already have a public health crisis on our hands.
They're falling back on successful advertising tropes, telling consumers that nicotine pouches could help them socialize, unwind, or appear cool to potential romantic partners. Ads also emphasize the discreet nature of the pouches, which allows them to be used anywhere without drawing too much attention.
Related storiesThrough these marketing strategies, nicotine pouches have soared in popularity and sales, Zyn has become a household name, gaining nicknames like Zynnie, Zynfluence and Zyndulgence. Zyn has effectively become the "Coke" of colas, the Kleenex of tissues, the Juul of e-cigs.
It is not a matter of cigarettes versus Zyn for many teens; it is Zyn versus nothing.
Editor's note: Bonnie Halpern-Felsher has served as an expert witness in litigation against various tobacco companies.
Opinion on Live Science gives you insight on the most important issues in science that affect you and the world around you today, written by experts and leading scientists in their field.
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