Nicotine pouches, tobacco’s latest ploy: Five things to know

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Addiction June 10, 2026

Nicotine pouches, tobacco’s latest ploy: Five things to know

By Christina Hernandez Sherwood

Highly addictive and surging in popularity, nicotine pouches are heavily marketed to teens and young adults. Here’s what else a Stanford Medicine expert thinks you should know.

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Nicotine pouches are small, microfiber satchels 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.<br>\nWorldwide, 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.<br>\nThe 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, an emeritus professor 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.”<br>\nJackler 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.<br>\n1. With smoking on the decline, tobacco companies have found new ways to sell nicotine<br>\nThe 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.<br>\nWith 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.<br>\n“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.”<br>\nWhile 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.<br>\n“It is a public health urgency in America to protect young people against becoming nicotine addicted,” Jackler said..<br>\n2. Nicotine pouches are heavily marketed to young people<br>\nMarketing 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.”<br>\nJackler’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.<br>\nThe ads also destigmatize nicotine pouch use by distancing it from cigarette smoking, Jackler said. They tout “less teeth staining” and “no smell.”<br>\nFree and heavily discounted nicotine pouch samples are distributed at hundreds of youth-frequented concerts, fairs and festivals; auto racing is sponsored by several brands.<br>\nSocial 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.<br>\nCigarette 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.<br>\n3. Unlike patches, nicotine pouches don’t usually help you quit smoking<br>\nSmoking cessation products, such nicotine gum, are authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. They are designed to deliver small...