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The Independent
16-07-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Addictive nicotine pouches can legally be sold to children in shops
Nicotine pouches with eye-catching packaging and sweet flavours are available for children to buy because the product falls between regulatory gaps, Trading Standards has warned. No law in place currently restricts the age of sale for nicotine pouches, meaning a child could enter a shop and be sold these addictive products, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has said. Nicotine pouches are small sachets designed to be placed between the upper lip and gums. Unlike other products, such as snus, these pouches do not contain tobacco and just release nicotine slowly. Just like vapes, they come in flavours including mango, berry and cherry ice. Pouches can contain between 1.5mg and 20mg of nicotine, similar to a vape, but they are not regulated as a specific tobacco or nicotine product. Data from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) published last month revealed that in 2024, just 38 per cent of 11- to 17-year-olds knew what a nicotine pouch was. Now that figure has shot up to 43 per cent. While only 4 per cent of 11- to 17-year-olds use nicotine pouches, the watchdog fears this will increase without an age restriction on the product. The warning comes as trading standards visits businesses to ensure they are no longer selling single-use vapes, which are now illegal to supply in the UK. During visits, Trading Standards has seen nicotine pouches displayed in plain sight at the front of the check-out areas in stores, sparking concern over the rise in popularity of these products among school-aged children. The watchdog warns that this nicotine product is discreet and could easily go undetected by teachers and parents. 'It very much feels like a game of whack-a-mole - just as one product is dealt with, another emerges - the availability of potentially harmful products being promoted and sold to our children seems never-ending,' said Duncan Stephenson, policy and external affairs director at CTSI. 'Nicotine pouches are the latest example, with slick marketing, sweet flavours and colourful packaging that risk appealing to young people, whether intended or not,' he added. Nicotine is a highly addictive substance, and in high doses it can cause headaches, a racing heart, nausea and stomach cramps. 'While they are likely to be very much less harmful than smoking, they contain nicotine which is addictive, and the long-term health impacts are not known,' said Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive at ASH. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, currently making its way through parliament, makes the sale of these nicotine products illegal to anyone under the age of 18. It will also introduce powers to restrict the use of child-appealing flavours, packaging and advertising, as well as dictate where they can be placed in shops. 'Strong, proactive regulation is essential to protect children and stop these products from slipping through the cracks,' Mr Stephenson added. Trading Standards is calling for the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to be moved up the parliamentary timetable to ensure a swift implementation. It wants nicotine pouches out of the reach of children and to make sure business owners don't exploit this age restriction loophole. Kate Pike, CTSI Lead Officer for Tobacco and Vapes, said: 'We are getting increasing reports from concerned parents and teachers that shops are marketing and selling nicotine pouches to children. It is incredibly frustrating that there is nothing we can currently do to prevent them. 'We have been asking for an age of sale on nicotine pouches for some time and were delighted when this measure was included in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.'
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump Rolls Back FDA Menthol Ban
The first week of Donald Trump's second term was so full of executive orders that it was hard to keep track of what was changing. With so many headline-making declarations—both good and bad—it was easy to miss one stellar piece of policy pushed through: the withdrawal of the Food and Drug Administration's proposal to ban menthol tobacco and nicotine products nationwide. In 2022, as part of the Biden administration's attack on tobacco and nicotine use, the FDA introduced a proposed rule to ban the sale and purchase of menthol-flavored tobacco and nicotine products. But the administration quickly backed off its public endorsement of the prohibition after realizing how unpopular the proposed bans were with voters. It never took the steps needed to withdraw the proposed rules, however. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' disappointing move here was inconsistent with their public calls to end the war on drugs. The previous administration said it was targeting menthol products in particular because they are often used by marginalized communities, most notably by black adults. The administration argued that access to these substances led to "health disparities [among] communities of color, low-income populations, and LGBTQ+ individuals." What Biden's FDA did not understand is that a ban would not cause these consumers to immediately stop using these products. We know from decades of failed attempts—from alcohol prohibition in the 1920s to Massachusetts' currently failing menthol ban—that consumers are too strong-willed for a government-imposed ban to work how it is intended. Instead, the black community and other consumers of menthol products get pushed to the unregulated black market where they would be in danger of encountering tampered products and criminal ramifications if caught. For these reasons, the proposed ban drew concern from activist groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and Drug Policy Alliance. The tragic events that transpired from Eric Garner selling cigarettes on the streets of New York City should have been more than enough of a lesson for the Biden-Harris administration in the dangers of paternalistic prohibition policies pushed under the guise of protecting public health. The targeting of a legal product that is heavily favored by a specific community in the name of securing their health may seem admirable at first glance. But when one understands the negative consequences that will inevitably occur—most notably those sometimes violent measures taken by the government—that same action looks much less honorable. On the other hand, Trump was outspoken about his support for legal access to tobacco and nicotine products during his most recent presidential campaign. While not a user of the substances himself, Trump seems to at least understand the impact of this issue on voters. While Trump was not always a steward of smart tobacco policy during his first administration, he did make public promises to "save Vaping" on the 2024 campaign trail. And it seems that his administration is already starting to make good on that promise with the withdrawal of this rule. The proposed ban's withdrawal is hopefully the start of a new era of drug policy. The post Trump Rolls Back FDA Menthol Ban appeared first on
