What about pouches?
Nicotine isn’t just found in vapes and cigarettes.
It’s also in nicotine pouches, snus and chewing tobacco.
Nicotine works the same way whether it’s in pouches, vapes, cigarettes or snus.
"I used to do snus occasionally on top of vaping, then I got a bit bored of vaping because snus was giving me big nicotine rushes. So I swapped to snus and then I couldn’t handle the smell because it was making me feel sick and I threw up a few times from taking too many too quickly."
What are nicotine pouches?
Nicotine pouches are small white pouches that you tuck under your lip. Sometimes you’ll hear people calling it “snus” (see “What is snus?” below).
There’s no smoke and no smell with nicotine pouches, and they don’t contain tobacco.
Some pouch brands are owned by the same tobacco companies that make vapes and cigarettes.
They use fun, colourful packaging, sweet flavours and even influencers and sports sponsorships - all to make pouches appear cleaner, safer and healthier.
But just like vapes, nicotine pouches are still addictive and still harmful to health.
Are nicotine pouches regulated?
Not yet. Right now, they only fall under general product safety rules. And they aren’t regulated like cigarettes or vapes are.
The UK government is planning tighter rules on age limits, strength caps, and less “child- friendly” packaging.
But until that happens:
- There’s no UK limit on nicotine strength
- UK pouches can contain 6–20mg of nicotine (or more)
- Illegal pouches can contain as much as 50–150mg
- Some pouches contain more nicotine than the label says
- Packaging can look like sweets or energy drinks
For context:
Experts recommend a max of 20 mg per pouch, but…150 mg pouches = 7.5× higher than the recommended limit
Higher nicotine strength means faster addiction, which makes it much tougher to quit.
What is snus?
Sometimes nicotine pouches are called ‘snus’, but that’s not quite right. Pronounced ‘snooze’, snus does contain tobacco (unlike pouches), and it’s banned in the UK.
According to ASH (Action on Smoking & Health):
“Snus is a Swedish tobacco product consisting of a pouch filled with tobacco, also placed in the mouth, which has a long history of use in Scandinavia. Snus has been banned across the EU and UK since 1992.”
When you hear people talking about ‘snus’ in the UK, they’re most likely talking about tobacco-free nicotine pouches.
Marketing tricks
Marketing tricks are often used to suggest that nicotine products are safe, healthy and clean, even though they’re not.
If you’re considering buying vapes, pouches or any other nicotine product, first of all ask yourself:
- “Who makes money if I use this?”
- “What aren’t they telling me?”
- “Is the packaging or advert trying to influence how I feel?
