COLUMBUS, Ohio — Nicotine pouches are becoming more popular with teens and young adults, but while these may be popular, college health officials say they also pose some risks.
The pouches are similar to chewing tobacco, but easier to hide, and available in a wide variety of flavors, making them tempting to new users,
Brittney Keller Hamilton, an epidemiologist at Ohio State University, says these pouches have chemical properties that are appealing to new users. And while they might be seen on the same level, or as dangerous, as smoking or vaping, health officials are concerned that the pouches could lead to larger nicotine cravings. "One of the biggest concerns of nicotine pouches, which is that as you experiment with nicotine pouches, they might not find them to be satisfying enough to continue to meet a growing nicotine craving and then might transition to more harmful products."
One parent says that there is a lack of nicotine awareness. "They might not know what all of the negative ramifications of using nicotine are other than, you know, there's a lot of publicity out there about cigarette smoke and how it can cause lung cancer, but I don't think there's enough information out there about nicotine use and how that can impact you and be addictive."
Doctors say that there needs to be more regulations on the sale of pouch. According to Hamilton, "Oversight for nicotine pouches that would protect young people might focus on the availability of certain flavors that young people find appealing. It might focus on the prices to make them to expensive for young people to reasonably purchase."
