
Oral nicotine pouches might be marketed as an alternative to cigarettes, but they do little to curb smokers’ nicotine cravings, a new study finds. The pouches – which contain nicotine powder and other flavorings, but no tobacco leaf – take too long to provide the nicotine “spike” that eases cravings, researchers report in the Nov. 15 issue of journal Addiction. Current smokers still get a much greater nicotine spike and much sharper relief from craving symptoms when they take a puff than when they use either low- or high-dose nicotine pouches, the results showed. The spike of nicotine from smoking occurs within about five minutes, said lead researcher Brittney Keller-Hamilton, of Ohio State University’s Cancer Control Program. By comparison, nicotine pouches take 30 minutes to an hour to hit peak effectiveness, researchers said. It’s reasonable to see how the instant gratification from cigarette smoking would be more appealing than oral nicotine pouches for smokers deep in the need for a nicotine fix, Keller-Hamilton said. At the same time, researchers are concerned that the pouches could appeal to young people, increasing nicotine addiction in a younger population while doing nothing to stem cancer risk among smokers. “Our challenge is to approach regulation of nicotine pouches to limit their appeal among young people while making them more appealing to adult smokers who would see health benefits by… read on > read on >