In Canada, flavoured nicotine pouches can currently only be purchased from pharmacists, but some ex-smokers say the country’s new regulations will make it harder for adults to get access to products that can help them quit smoking.
“The government should be doing everything they can to stop young people from getting addicted to nicotine, whether it’s through nicotine pouches, e-cigarette products or tobacco products in general,” said Zach Lane, 29, a former smoker who uses pouches.
“The laws here are a bit excessive,” the Edmonton man said.
As of Wednesday, The federal government has banned the sale of the pouches in convenience stores, gas stations and online.The company has also now fully recalled all fruity flavors, with only the mint flavor remaining available over the pharmacy counter.
The move has been praised by health agencies in several countries. Canadian Dental Association To Heart and Stroke Foundation.
They argue that unlike other nicotine replacement therapies already on the market, such as gum and patches, the pouches are being promoted and marketed in a way that targets young people, including those who have never smoked before.
Health Canada approved the pouch last summer, and it is being sold under the brand name Zonic., It’s meant to help people quit smoking, or in other words, stop smoking. A small white packet is placed between the cheek and gums. This method, doctors say, releases the same amount of nicotine as smoking several cigarettes, but without the carcinogenic chemicals.
Some smokers say the new restrictions on nicotine pouches are excessive and will discourage people from quitting, but the federal government argues that the products are targeted at young people and need to be regulated.
“For me, I’ve always felt like nicotine pouches were the lesser of two evils,” Lane said. “I’ve been addicted to nicotine for the last 10 years, and I don’t necessarily see that changing anytime soon for me.”
Mr Laing, who has asthma, said he had tried chewing tobacco, cigarettes and e-cigarettes before starting to use the pouches.
“I liked it straight away and it didn’t make me feel sick like tobacco products do,” he said.
Pouches also pose health risks
Todd Prochnow, an Alberta pharmacist who specializes in helping patients quit smoking, said there are benefits to having smoking cessation pouches in convenience stores.
“People are buying their cigarettes there so they can probably make a less harmful decision,” he said.
Prochnow said patients need to have access to as many nicotine replacement products as possible to help them quit smoking.
“The difference in harm is so great that if these products are not available, patients will continue to smoke. Ultimately, whether cigarettes will kill them or not is like two sides of the same coin,” he said.
Pouches still carry significant health risks, from damaged gum tissue to elevated blood pressure and heart rate. Health Canada says nicotine is highly toxic Nicotine is highly addictive, especially for children and teenagers whose brains are still developing. Even small amounts can increase the risk of developing nicotine addiction later in life.
Prochnow also warned that eliminating flavor pouches could have unintended consequences. UK adults who vape prefer a wider range of flavour options, a study has found..
“Adult smokers trying to quit often choose fruit, mint and non-tobacco flavors,” he said.
However, the same study also found that children were more likely to choose sweeter flavours and less likely to choose mint or menthol than adults.
As new federal restrictions on nicotine pouches take effect Wednesday, critics of the products say they are marketed specifically to children and adolescents. The ban on fruit-flavored products and sales outside pharmacies is a welcome change for critics.
Prochnow warned that limiting access and flavors could encourage people to seek out other illegal pouches that aren’t subject to the same safety controls.
“There is a large so-called black market, or illegal market, for these nicotine pouches. They are readily available online and in stores that sell them illegally.”
Imperial Tobacco, which makes Zonic, has launched a campaign claiming that this will happen.
“We want to remind people that we are the only licensed nicotine pouch in Canada,” Eric Gagnon, vice-president of corporate and regulatory affairs at Imperial Tobacco Canada, told CBC News in an interview last week.
Health Canada vows to crack down
A spokesman for Health Minister Mark Holland said Health Canada will work to identify and confiscate unauthorized nicotine pouches, including online and at the border.
“We want to help adults quit smoking, which is why our proven, appropriately used quit aids – including gum, lozenges, sprays and inhalers – will continue to be sold in a variety of flavors and at a wide range of retailers,” spokesman Matt Kronberg said in a statement.
Kronberg wrote that porches pose an “increased risk of attracting youth” and therefore require stricter controls.
Rob Cunningham, a senior policy analyst working on tobacco control at the Canadian Cancer Society, said the pouches will continue to be readily available to any adult who wants them.
“There are pharmacies everywhere now. It would essentially be very easy for people to get these products,” he said.
“You can’t expect a gas station attendant to give you the same advice about quitting that you would get from a medical professional.”
Cunningham said it’s a historical coincidence that cigarettes are sold in convenience stores: Once nicotine replacement therapies like gum and patches were introduced, they began to be sold in pharmacies.
“The tobacco industry’s favorite approach is convenience stores and gas stations because they can sell cigarettes to people who have never smoked before,” he said.
As smoking rates fall, the tobacco industry is developing new products to get young people addicted, creating a group of potential lifelong customers, he said.
According to Statistics Canada, approximately 750,000 never-smoker Canadians currently use e-cigarettes, and that number is growing. Canada now has one of the highest rates of youth e-cigarette use in the world.
“Can we really believe that Imperial Tobacco, the tobacco company, wants smokers to quit? Of course not,” Cunningham said. “They say they don’t want young people to use these products, but they were saying the same thing in the 1960s.”
Cunningham said Imperial Tobacco “very strongly” opposed the Canadian restrictions for that reason.
“This has implications not just for Canada but for the world,” he said. “They did not want this measure to be adopted.”
