Nicotine pouches gaining popularity with teens despite being illegal in Australia
Nicotine pouches are gaining ground with young people, recent research shows. (ABC News: Sharon Gordon)
Just as soon as the government has cracked down on vapes, there is a new nicotine product making its way to teens — and experts say it is even harder to detect.
Nicotine pouches, Zyn, "snus", "ziz" — call them what you will — are becoming well known among young people, and a recent University of Melbourne research shows a lot have used the product.
It is not surprising, given that teens who spoke to the ABC say these items are easy to procure despite the restrictions on buying and selling them.
From left to right, Elyssia, 15, Ella, 16, and Aliza, 15, have all heard about nicotine pouches. (ABC BTN High: Michelle Wakim)
Michelle Jongenelis, associate professor at the University of Melbourne, surveyed almost 1,600 adolescents and adults aged 16 to 39 years for a study published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
Dr Jongenelis, the report's co-author, found that about a quarter of adolescents and young adults surveyed had used nicotine pouches and 77 per cent of them were aware of the products.
Michelle Jongenelis has conducted a survey on nicotine use among young Australians. (Supplied: Michelle Jongenelis)
On top of that, about one in five had used them in the 30 days before the survey.
You can't legally buy or sell nicotine pouches in Australia, but one third of those surveyed said they had purchased the pouches from a tobacconist.
"Nicotine pouches are discreet and available in a variety of flavours — factors that make them appealing to younger Australians. Much like vapes, they are being sold illegally by tobacconists," Dr Jongenelis says.
"It is concerning that these addictive products are finding their way into the hands of adolescents."
Loading...So, how are the teens getting it?
Most of the young people we interviewed say the product is very accessible.
"If you have access to a mobile device and you have a bank account connected to that or a brother or cousin … so easy," Carlos, 18, says.
Carlos, 18, says it's easy to buy nicotine pouches online. (ABC BTN High: Michelle Wakim)
Carmine, 18, says the pouches are easy to obtain online.
"They're illegal to sell in Australia but to actually import them into Australia, it's pretty easy to do," he says.
"Like just buying them off the websites."
Others, like Charlize, 19, say they can be had right here in Australia.
"All my friends are using it rather than vaping, rather than smoking," she says.
"Honestly, like, you could just go down to one of the vape stores … just ask for some 'ziz' [nicotine pouch] and they give it to you," she says.
Why are they becoming so popular?
Social media influencers and a cheaper product designed to appeal to youngsters makes them attractive to the teens, according to Dr Jongenelis.
Recent changes to the law on accessing e-cigarettes — also known as vapes — have also made nicotine pouches more desirable.
From October, only pharmacies can sell the vapes to those 18 and over, though no prescription is needed.
"Adolescents, in particular, were telling us that the price of e-cigarettes had gone up because of the new laws," Dr Jongenelis says.
"So they were sort of looking for something that they could use instead to either help with their nicotine cravings if they were addicted to vapes, or just because they felt like it.
"And so nicotine pouches seemed to be sort of filling that gap."
Vapes are only available behind the counter and people have to present identification to the pharmacist. (ABC News: Rachel Carbonell)
Dr Jongenelis says it is about the nicotine industry finding ways to work around the law.
"The industry sees … the sale of its products is being restricted in some way," she says.
"And it's not going to just take that lying down. It's going to pivot and go, 'What else can we do to get through these laws and exploit these loopholes?' And so they've quietly shifted to … the nicotine pouches."
Carmine and Nic, who is also 18, agree.
"It's harder to get these vapes … so you turn to something easier, which is nicotine pouches," Carmine says.
Ella, 16, says she has seen the product on TikTok.
"I see those Stanley videos. It's like 'pack my Stanley [cup] and they put in the Zyns,'" she says.
Insidious marketing aside, misconceptions about the benefits of nicotine pouches also make things worse.
Dr Jongenelis says while some social media influencers are paid to promote nicotine pouches, others use it to quit vaping.
However, she says there isn't much information on the long-term effects of the pouches.
Australian Medical Association president and GP Danielle McMullen says nicotine pouches are not built to help quit smoking.
"We use … something called nicotine replacement therapy, and that's things you might have seen in the supermarket like Nicorette or other brands that have small doses of nicotine to help people come off of cigarettes," she says.
"That's very different to these nicotine pouches that have huge doses of nicotine in it and really aren't built to help you quit smoking because they've got flavours that you then really want to keep trying."
Are nicotine pouches harmful?
Dr McMullen says nicotine is especially harmful to growing minds.
"Your brain is mapping out how the world works," Dr McMullen says.
"So any drug or chemical or any other interference with that process can damage how those connections are made and set up difficulties down the track, either with learning or with mental health problems and that instability in your brain."
She says it can also exacerbate anxiety.
"Nicotine, through its effects on your heart and your blood pressure … often contributes to anxiety," Dr McMullen says.
"And we know that young people at the moment already are living really stressful lives, and we're seeing more rates of anxiety and depression and mental illness.
"You may have even seen you or your mates who've used them feeling 'nic-sick'," Dr McMullen says.
"It makes your heart rate go up, and so it's harmful for your heart. You feel sick, you feel faint, and that's a really unpleasant experience."
Danielle McMullen says nicotine pouches are bad for teens' mental and physical wellbeing. (Supplied: AMA)
That's something that the young people who have used it are realising, too.
"It actually makes me very sick, very sick," Charlize says.
"I literally feel like I'm about to pass out when I take it.
Charlize says nicotine pouches have made her feel sick. (ABC BTN High: Michelle Wakim)
Carlos know the feeling well also.
"I know it makes you, I wouldn't say, depressed … it [makes] you lazy, lethargic, in a sense," he says.
What's the solution?
Dr McMullen would like to educate people so they know that buying nicotine products online is breaking the law.
"We need to get the message out there that even though it seems easy to buy it online, It's actually not legal to do that," she says.
"And these products should, and can, get seized at the border."
Dr Jongenelis wants to see more done to stop those selling the products illegally in Australia.
"We don't really need to change the laws around them because it's already illegal. What we need to do is enforce the law better," she says.
"We need to be fining or shutting down these retailers who are selling these products illegally."