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Flavoured nicotine pouches are on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram.

Although some viral videos have been taken down following a series of reports in , clips featuring have claimed nicotine pouches are a safe and effective way to quit vaping. A number of the videos have included links to websites selling these products.

With the rapid rise in youth vaping and the subsequent to restrict access to vaping products, it鈥檚 not entirely surprising the tobacco industry is introducing more products to maintain its future revenue stream.

The major trans-national tobacco companies, including Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco, all manufacture nicotine pouches. British American Tobacco鈥檚 brand of nicotine pouches, Velo, is a leading sponsor of the .

But what are nicotine pouches, and are they even legal in Australia?

Nicotine pouches are available in many countries around the world, and their sales are聽, especially among聽.

Nicotine pouches look a bit like small tea bags and are placed between the lip and gum. They鈥檙e typically sold in small, colourful tins of about 15 to 20 pouches. While the pouches聽, they do contain nicotine that is either extracted from tobacco plants or made synthetically. The pouches come in a wide range of strengths.

As well as nicotine, the pouches commonly contain plant fibres (in place of tobacco, plant fibres serve as a filler and give the pouches shape), sweeteners and flavours. Just like for vaping products, there鈥檚聽聽of pouch flavours available including different varieties of fruit, confectionery, spices and drinks.

The range of appealing flavours, as well as the fact they can be used discreetly, may make nicotine pouches particularity attractive to young people.

Users absorb the nicotine in their mouths and simply replace the pouch when all the nicotine has been absorbed. Tobacco-free nicotine pouches are a relatively recent product, but similar style products that do contain tobacco,聽, have been popular in Scandinavian countries, particularly Sweden, for decades.

Snus and nicotine pouches are however different products. And given snus contains tobacco and nicotine pouches don鈥檛, the products are subject to quite different regulations in Australia.

Pouches that contain tobacco, like snus, have been banned in Australia since 1991, as part of a聽聽on all forms of smokeless tobacco products. This means other smokeless tobacco products such as chewing tobacco, snuff, and dissolvable tobacco sticks or tablets, are also banned from sale in Australia.

Tobacco-free nicotine pouches cannot legally be sold by general retailers, like tobacconists and convenience stores, in Australia either. But the reasons for this are more complex.

In Australia, under the聽, nicotine is a prescription-only medicine, with two exceptions. Nicotine can be used in tobacco prepared and packed for smoking, such as cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco, and cigars, as well as in preparations for therapeutic use as a smoking cessation aid, such as nicotine patches, gum, mouth spray and lozenges.

If a nicotine-containing product does not meet either of these two exceptions, it cannot be legally sold by general retailers. No nicotine pouches have currently been approved by the聽聽as a therapeutic aid in smoking cessation, so in short they鈥檙e not legal to sell in Australia.

However, nicotine pouches can be legally imported for personal use only if users have a prescription from a medical professional who can assess if the product is appropriate for individual use.

We only have anecdotal reports of nicotine pouch use, not hard data, as these products are very new in Australia. But we do know authorities are increasingly聽聽from retailers. It鈥檚 highly unlikely any young people using nicotine pouches are accessing them through legal channels.

Nicotine exposure聽聽dizziness, headache, nausea and abdominal cramps, especially among people who don鈥檛 normally smoke or vape.

Although we don鈥檛 yet have much evidence on the long term health effects of nicotine pouches, we know nicotine is addictive and聽. For example, it can cause problems in the cardiovascular system (such as heart arrhythmia), particularly at high doses. It may also have negative effects on聽.

The nicotine contents of some of the nicotine pouches on the market is alarmingly high. Certain brands offer pouches containing more than聽, which is similar to a cigarette. According to a World Health Organization (WHO)聽, pouches deliver enough nicotine to induce and sustain nicotine addiction.

Pouches are also being marketed as a product to use when it鈥檚 not possible to vape or smoke, such as聽. So instead of helping a person quit they may be used in addition to smoking and vaping. And importantly, there鈥檚聽聽pouches are an effective smoking or vaping cessation aid.

Further, some nicotine pouches, despite being tobacco-free, still contain聽. These compounds can damage DNA, and with long term exposure, can cause cancer.

Overall, there鈥檚 limited data on the harms of nicotine pouches because they鈥檝e been on the market for only a short time. But the WHO聽聽given their similarities to smokeless tobacco products.

For anyone wanting advice and support to quit smoking or vaping, it鈥檚 best to talk to your doctor or pharmacist, or access trusted sources such as聽聽or the聽.

This article was original published in The Conversation as ''.听

Declaration:聽Becky Freeman is an Expert Advisor to the Cancer Council Tobacco Issues Committee and a member of the Cancer Institute Vaping Communications Advisory Panel. These are unpaid roles. She has received relevant competitive grants that include a focus on e-cigarettes/vaping from the NHMRC, MRFF, NSW Health, the Ian Potter Foundation, VicHealth, and Healthway WA; relevant research contracts from the Cancer Institute NSW and the Cancer Council NSW; relevant personal/consulting fees from the World Health Organization, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Department of Health, BMJ Tobacco Control, the Heart Foundation NSW, the US FDA, the NHMRC e-cigarette working committee, NSW Health, and Cancer Council NSW; and relevant travel expenses from the Oceania Tobacco Control Conference and the Australia Public Health Association preventive health conference.

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