There is a seemingly never-ending supply of articles that incuriously promote World Health Organisation (WHO) sensationalism on nicotine pouches. Many of them are funded by various public health charities and NGOs; others do it just for fun. None of them quite understands the issues.
Take this piece by The Trends Wire, an online publication that I had never heard of until today. Titled WHO Warns 40 Million Children Are Already Addicted — and 160 Countries Have No Nicotine Pouch Rules, the alarmist tone is designed to grab attention rather than elucidate.
So, let’s take a look at some of the claims in the article to add a little context.
40 million 13 to 15-year-olds use tobacco
WHO’s current global estimate for tobacco use among 13–15‑year‑olds is 40 million. If that seems a little high based on your own observations, there is some nuance.
Firstly, these figures are explicitly based on “current use, i.e., at least once in the past 30 days. In other words, these figures drag in all sorts of experimental use or those who might take a drag on a cigarette at a party, and so on.
Secondly, the breakdown is telling. According to the WHO report, about 20 million of these 13 to 15-year-olds smoke cigarettes, and a further 10 million use smokeless tobacco, like chewing tobacco, snuff, gutkha, naswar, betel quid with tobacco, etc. The remaining 10 million use vapes. It’s worth noting that the WHO treats pouches as a separate product.
If we look at the Tobacco Atlas map below, we can see that this kind of youth tobacco use is a geographic problem. It’s horrible that ¾ of these kids are using lethal products. The idea that The Trends Wire, or indeed, the WHO, are using these stats to scaremonger about pouches in this context is ridiculous. While it would of course be better if 13 to 15-year-olds were not using nicotine at all, it would be far better to see them use the safest product.
Hooking the next generation
In the article, there is a quote from Dr Etienne Krug, the Director of the Department of Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention at WHO. She wheels out the tired “hooking the new generation” line, stating:
"Even as tobacco continues to kill millions of people, major tobacco companies are reinventing their business model, continuing to profit from deadly cigarettes while aggressively pushing flavoured e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches and other nicotine products aimed at hooking the next generation,
Never once does she acknowledge that this “reinvention” involves making safer products that would reduce the millions who die each year from tobacco.
160 unregulated markets
As the article points out, many markets don’t have specific nicotine pouch regulations. Of course, this is not entirely surprising because adoption is low and they are a novel product. However, the WHO tries to paint this as the Wild West. Of course, in reality, most countries have consumer-product, poison, or medicine laws. Additionally, in the UK and Europe, most big-brand nicotine pouch brands are self-regulating already, with strengths capped at 20 mg, age-gating, and so on.
Final thoughts
Articles like this show the hysteria around pouches is alive and well. Most publications just don’t have time to look into the WHO’s often subtle language games to get to the truth. The fact is, nicotine pouches are a solution to the problem of tobacco-related death and illness. Adoption among teens is growing, but it’s still fairly minor.
