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Unlike snus, illegal in France and in almost all countries of the European Union since the early 1990s, nicotine sachets benefit from legal vagueness, and are experiencing growing popularity on social networks. , but not only that… A phenomenon confirmed by an American study, which warns of the potential harmful effects of such use, particularly among the youngest generations.
If we mainly talk about snus to talk about what we present today as alternatives, or even substitutes, to cigarettes, it is indeed nicotine sachets that are all the rage among young people. And for good reason, the first is illegal in France, while the second benefits from legal vagueness which allows it to be marketed in many countries around the world, including France. If these two products are similar in the way they are consumed, namely a sachet to be placed between the gum and the lip, they do not however contain the same substances, tobacco for one, a nicotine-based powder for the other. Nicotine sachets were recently the subject of a large-scale study in the United States, with a view to evaluating users and health risks.
Towards an increase in consumption?
“Oral nicotine pouches were first introduced in the United States in the last decade. These are sachets of pre-portioned white granules containing nicotine, placed between the gums and lips, marketed as tobacco-free and sold in different flavors and nicotine strengths“, specify researchers from the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, a cancer center located on the campus of Georgetown University in Washington, in a press release. For the purposes of their work, the researchers evaluated data from 62 studies related to the use of nicotine sachets, including 45 university studies and 17 funded by industry, mainly in Scandinavia and the United States.
Published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research, the study indicates that a tiny portion of young Americans (1.5%) used nicotine sachets until 2023, and that less than 2.5% had already used them during their life. Which does not mean that they do not know about this product, since 35% to 42% of American adolescents and young adults had already heard of it. If we now look at adults, between 0.8% and 3% of Americans said they would use it in 2023, while between 3% and 16% had already tried nicotine sachets. A use which may seem weak, but the authors of this research specify: “Given the upward trends in nicotine pouch sales in 2024, their use among the U.S. population has likely increased“.
A risk of dependence
It is this potential increase that alarms scientists, for two reasons. Although they do not contain tobacco, these sachets can still cause nicotine dependence, and lead young people to consume tobacco products in the long term. “As with e-cigarettes, the wide variety of flavors and aggressive marketing campaigns we see, particularly through social media, have the potential to attract young people, providing a new route to nicotine addiction“, argues Nargiz Travis, one of the authors of this work.
The analysis of 37 nicotine sachets from different brands also revealed “a wide range of total nicotine levels, from 0.89 to 6.73 milligrams per sachet“This is despite the fact that researchers point out that these products contain fewer harmful chemical compounds than cigarettes.”Nicotine pouches are quickly gaining popularity. Although they may provide a less harmful alternative to nicotine for cigarette users, there is considerable concern that they may become a new form of nicotine addiction, particularly among young people who do not use tobacco or nicotine“, continues Nargiz Travis.
And to conclude: “In the United States, nicotine sachets are currently neither authorized by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration, in charge of drug monitoring, editor’s note) to be marketed as modified risk products, nor approved as products smoking cessation. It is important to know that nicotine is an addictive chemical that has harmful health effects, whether it is synthetic, i.e. non-tobacco, or derived from tobacco.“.
What about France?
In France, the consumption of these products is in the sights of numerous associations, just as their effects are closely monitored. At the end of last May, the National Committee Against Smoking (CNCT) demanded, on the sidelines of World No Tobacco Day, “a ban on nicotine sachets”, before announcing that it had “filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor for trafficking in poisonous substances“. The Committee argues in this respect that “nicotine sachets do not have a marketing authorization and do not belong to the category of exceptions concerning authorized nicotine products“.
For his part, the National Food Safety Agency (Anses) took stock, at the end of 2023, of the risks induced by such consumption for young people. If she does not detail them according to the type of product, she explains: “Nicotine sachets, tobacco sachets (Snus), aromatic beads for cigarettes… Poison Control Centers are receiving more and more calls from people poisoned by these products“. And to specify: “The majority of people poisoned following the consumption of nicotine sachets or snus were aged between 12 and 17 years old. (…) These adolescents presented acute nicotine syndromes, sometimes severe: prolonged vomiting with risk of dehydration, convulsions, disturbances of consciousness, hypotension requiring vascular filling“.
ANSES also indicated that the number of cases concerned was “probably underestimated”, and that nicotine sachets could expose consumers “to the development of a dependence in the medium and long term”.