Nicotine pouches are small, microfiber sachets containing a pre-portioned powder doped with nicotine – a highly addictive chemical – flavorings, and other ingredients. When held in the mouth between the lip and gum, the nicotine is absorbed into the bloodstream.

Worldwide, retail sales of nicotine pouches grew by more than 50% from 2023 to 2024. Last year, the global market for nicotine pouches was nearly $7 billion, with almost 80% of the revenue share in the United States.

The pouches are among the “emerging nicotine delivery systems,” including electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco, introduced by tobacco companies as cigarette sales wane, said Robert K. Jackler, MD, a professor emeritus of otolaryngology and principal investigator of Stanford Research Into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising. “It’s about introducing young people to nicotine,” he said, “and sustaining the addiction in adult smokers.”

Jackler has spent more than 20 years studying how the tobacco industry markets its products. Most recently, he collaborated with the World Health Organization on a new report that exposed the marketing tactics behind the global growth of nicotine pouch use. We asked him what people should know about nicotine pouches.

1. With smoking on the decline, tobacco companies have found new ways to sell nicotine

The good news is that in 2025 fewer than 10% of American adults – and only 1.4% of teenagers – were cigarette smokers. Adolescent use is particularly worrisome for the tobacco industry, Jackler said, because nicotine addiction almost always starts during the teenage years.

With the U.S. smoking rate at an all-time low and cigarette sales on the decline, Jackler said, the tobacco industry is “in panic mode” – aggressively promoting new nicotine products to sustain its profits.

“The industry is worried about losing customers, so they’ve diversified,” he said. “Their nicotine addiction methods now include electronic cigarettes; heated tobacco, which smolders rather than combusts tobacco leaves; and, of course, nicotine pouches.”

While few adolescents and young adults are picking up cigarettes, they’re becoming nicotine addicted in other ways, through products such as e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches. Nicotine addiction can harm brain development and increase cardiovascular risk, and if it starts in youth it’s likely to be sustained long term. The nicotine habit is a very difficult addiction to break.

“It is a public health urgency in America to protect young people against becoming nicotine addicted,” Jackler said.

2. Nicotine pouches are heavily marketed to young people

Marketing campaigns for nicotine pouches portray the products as modern, innovative and discreet, Jackler said. “These pouches are recapitulating every cigarette advertising trope from the 20th century,” he said. “They made these into lifestyle products.”

Jackler’s research focused on six nicotine pouch brands of the major transnational tobacco companies, all with candy-like packaging and a variety of sweet, fruity and minty flavors. Nicotine pouch advertisements feature young people smiling with friends and romantic partners and enjoying vigorous activities such as bicycling, rock climbing and playing sports.

The ads also destigmatize nicotine pouch use by distancing it from cigarette smoking, Jackler said. They tout “less teeth staining” and “no smell.”

Free and heavily discounted nicotine pouch samples are distributed at hundreds of youth-frequented concerts, fairs and festivals; auto racing is sponsored by several brands.

Social media platforms, particularly Facebook and Instagram, are the biggest advertising channels for nicotine pouch purveyors, Jackler said. While the organic social media accounts of nicotine pouch brands might have only modest follower counts, their messages are amplified by popular hashtags and influencers who reach millions.

Cigarette ads were banned from television and radio more than a half-century ago, but “The tobacco industry is back on mass media big time,” Jackler said, especially mass media that heavily skews toward young people.

3. Unlike patches, nicotine pouches don’t usually help you quit smoking

Smoking cessation products, such as nicotine gum, are authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. They are designed to deliver small amounts of nicotine – limited to a small amount less than 4 mg – with the goal of stepping down nicotine dose and eventually quitting altogether.

Nicotine pouches, on the other hand, can contain nicotine concentrations, with many major brands offering 9 to 12 mg per pouch, and some as high as 150 mg, Jackler said. Designed and marketed to sustain addiction, these products ensure the industry has profitable sales in the face of declining cigarette use.

Even so, ads for nicotine pouches imply that the products can be useful for people who want to quit smoking, he said. Testimonials included in nicotine pouch ads include “I can breathe again” and “21 weeks smoke-free.”

“You don’t want the tobacco industry claiming that they’re selling quitting stuff,” Jackler said. “That’s not what they do.”

4. Nicotine pouches could make addiction worse

Nicotine pouches can exacerbate addiction, Jackler said, because pouches can be used in places where smoking is prohibited, such as workplaces, restaurants and airplanes.

“You start using pouches at times during the day that were previously nicotine-free,” he said. “Your nicotine level stays high all the time throughout the day. It actually makes cigarette cessation less probable, and it deepens addiction.”

5. The U.S. lags in nicotine pouch regulation

While nicotine pouches are banned or heavily restricted in dozens of countries, including Australia, France and Singapore, tobacco industry-friendly regulations are being pursued in the United States.

The second term of President Donald Trump has ushered in “the most tobacco-friendly administration we’ve seen in at least 50 years,” Jackler said, noting the elimination of the Office on Smoking and Health in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In May, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary resigned his position, reportedly over concerns about the White House’s instructions to authorize fruit-flavored e-cigarettes.

Two nicotine pouch brands have been authorized for sale by the FDA in multiple flavors. Many other products have yet to be authorized, despite a plan to fast-track the clearances.

However, flavored nicotine pouches are banned for sale in several states, including California.

Jackler said he supports common-sense regulations on nicotine pouches. “I want safer alternatives on the market for adult smokers, but not ones that serve as an on-ramp to nicotine addiction among youth,” he said. “I don’t think they should be sold in youth-appealing sweet, fruity, or minty flavors, and they should be limited to what’s authorized for nicotine replacement therapy, no more than 4 mg of nicotine per pouch.”

Because they are potently addictive products, nicotine pouches should not be advertised as lifestyle enhancers and should not be allowed to be promoted via youth-frequently social media channels, Jackler added.