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FIn fact! With the news that the sale of nicotine pouches under 18s Will be made illegal under government action, you can almost hear the screams of relief Guardian across the land. I hardly know any parent of a teenager who has not been distracted by these fashionable little white pouches – often called snus – Due to which children constantly stick to their gums to get affected. nicotine,
Candy’s ice creams are packaged in brightly colored cans with flavors such as cherry, banana pepper, candy floss and bubble gum, and costing as little as £3.95, in some cases they can deliver up to 10 times more nicotine than a cigarette.
Gary Lineker claimed he endured seven hours of “absolute torture” after a try ahead of Euro 2020. “I’m starting to sweat, but I’m cold. I’m sweating and there’s a pool on the floor, and I can’t move… I lay down on the floor and crawl like a snake to the toilet… and right before I go to the toilet, I vomit everywhere,” he said. the rest is football Podcast in 2023.
Lineker may have taken a high-powered bag – as many teenagers do. As of now, there are no limits on how strong these pouches can be or at what age children can purchase them. At my local Budgens, I can barely buy a loaf of bread without going through an army of schoolchildren picking out the sturdiest options from rows of funny-looking tins, neatly displayed like sweets. Sold in flavors such as Tropical Mix, Raspberry Frost Mint and Ruby Berry, they cost £6.99 each (or two for £12) – and they look so delicious and harmless that I can hardly blame them.
Data from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) published in June showed that in 2024, 38 per cent of 11 to 17-year-olds knew what a nicotine pouch was. This figure has now increased to 43 percent.
Currently there is no restriction on the age of sale or advertising on products, but this is sure to change. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, now making its way through Parliament, would ban the sale of pouches to minors, as well as ban sales through vending machines or giving them away for free. The new law will also allow health professionals to set a legal limit on nicotine levels, and fruit flavors that have led a generation to believe they are as harmless as Haribo will be banned. Retailers caught selling products to people under 18 will be fined £200.
And not before time. It has become a nightmare for every parent to see a small bump under their child’s upper lip and know that they are addicted to it. For a brief moment, some parents were relieved to learn that the shrink-wrapped packets of Class-A drugs lying around their teenagers’ bedrooms were “just nicotine.” It didn’t take long before they realized how addicted their children were to drugs.
Parents tell me that their teens regularly sleep with them in their mouth, which is damaging their teeth and gums. Since nicotine reduces blood flow to the gum tissue, these pouches are known to cause deep sores in the gums and mouth sores, and long-term exposure to nicotine potentially increases the risk of mouth cancer.
The mother of an 18-year-old says her son has become increasingly addicted to drugs since the age of 16, “as have all his peers – it’s a disaster”. “Vapes made him addicted to nicotine. Unlike cigarettes – which you throw out after you’re done and can’t smoke indoors – vapes had no end, so he was doing it constantly.
“He eventually started smoking as a ‘healthy’ alternative to vaping. But due to the constant need for nicotine he started taking nicotine pouches, which helped him pass his exams.
“Sold in cool cans, it’s become a whole thing for Gen Z, and I honestly don’t know a single teenage boy who doesn’t use them.” Another friend told me that her 17-year-old son buys high-strength sachets for next-day delivery – and he can’t seem to kick the habit.
“When my teens freak out, they get really irritable,” she says. Children sit in class with rags in their mouths — sometimes sweating profusely and unable to concentrate when overexerted.
First there’s the irritation in the gums, then the “hit,” when saliva releases nicotine into the bloodstream, creating a stimulant effect. They’re even stronger than cigarettes – especially when you use more than one at a time, as is the craze now. A typical cigarette provides approximately 1–2 mg of absorbed nicotine, while pouches can provide approximately 4–20 mg, depending on the product.
And whereas cigarettes send nicotine rapidly through the lungs, pouches release it continuously for 30-60 minutes, being absorbed through the lining of the mouth, resulting in higher but more stable nicotine levels.
And it is the nicotine constant that is a matter of concern. Although pouches pose fewer health risks than cigarettes because they do not contain smoke, there are still significant health concerns. High nicotine powers increase heart rate and blood pressure, and nicotine can disrupt brain development in young people and has been linked to an increased risk of anxiety and depression.
Now, as the Tobacco and Vapes Bill reaches the committee stage, a ban on the sale of nicotine pouches to people under 18 will finally allow the government to regulate their content, branding and display. This is something parents have wanted for years. While vapes and pouches may have helped hardened smokers quit cigarettes, the opposite is true for this generation of teens.
Like children in a nicotine candy store, they have been sold a supposedly harmless product while parents watched helplessly as their children quietly became addicted – on the way to school and even in their own bedrooms.
While regulation comes just in time for their younger siblings, many people caught in the web of addiction are now 18 years old – and no one can stop them from buying it and continuing a habit that could have been prevented in the first place.