A new study found that the prevalence of nicotine pouch use was low in U.S. adults despite a 641% increase in sales of the products between 2019 and 2022.
Researchers say the findings raise questions about who is using the millions of nicotine pouches sold in the U.S. and why.
Nicotine pouches, a new commercial tobacco product, contain a crystalline powder with nicotine, flavorings (including fruit, mint or candy) and other additives. They do not cause respiratory harm and are perceived by some as an alternative to help adults who smoke tobacco quit. Nicotine pouches have recently gained attention over concerns that their flavors and trendy social media marketing campaigns are attracting youth users.
However, limited data on usage among adults has been collected since the new products entered the market. Now, a study from the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the University of Nebraska Medical Center analyzed nicotine pouch use in a nationally representative sample of 39,557 U.S.
adults. The study found that 2.9% of adults had ever used nicotine pouches, with 0.
4% reporting current use. The majority of adults currently using pouches also currently smoke cigarettes. Additionally, 5.
2% of those who attempted to quit smoking in the past year and had relapsed back to smoking reported using pouches to help with their cessation efforts. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), was just published in JAMA . The low prevalence of nicotine pouch use in adults surp.
