Smokers Turning To Nicotine Pouches To Help Them Quit, Study Suggests

Nicotine pouches might be helping tobacco users quit smoking and vaping, a new study says.

The pouches — sold under brand names like Velo and Zyn — can’t be marketed as smoking cessation aids like nicotine patches, gums or lozenges, researchers said.

But it appears that some are using the pouches to get their nicotine fix without resorting to smoking, researchers recently reported in JAMA Network Open.

People were nearly four times more likely to use nicotine pouches daily if they’d recently quit smoking, researchers found.

“Our results suggest that adults may be using nicotine pouches for harm reduction given that use is highest among those that have recently quit another tobacco product or e-cigarettes,” lead researcher Cristine Delnevo said in a news release. She’s director of the Rutgers University Institute for Nicotine and Tobacco Studies in New Brunswick, N.J.