Nicotine pouch rise is driven by young men, study finds

Young men are behind the growing popularity of nicotine sachets in Britain, a study suggests.

Around 7.5% of men aged 16 to 24 use the small sachets placed under the upper lip, compared to 1.9% of young women and 1% of all adults.

Most sachet users – estimated at around half a million people – also smoke or vape, and a growing number are using them to quit smoking, researchers at University College London have found.

They say research is needed to determine whether nicotine-filled pouches could help people quit smoking, which contains harmful tobacco and other chemicals.

The small white tea bag-shaped sachets are purchased in brightly colored round boxes. They contain synthetic nicotine rather than tobacco, and young men have told the BBC they can produce a potent dose.

Sales of nicotine sachets have increased rapidly in recent years, with the increase driven “almost exclusively” by young people who use them, particularly young men, researchers say.

Less than 1% of young men and women used nicotine sachets in 2022, compared to 4% in March 2025.

This is due to the “aggressive and targeted” way in which the sachets are marketed, the study says.

“Nicotine sachet marketing has been heavily targeted to spaces and platforms that disproportionately reach young men, including sponsorship of Formula 1 teams, promotion at music festivals, reports of usage among professional footballers and influencer marketing aimed at male audiences,” says Dr Harry Tattan-Birch, a researcher at UCL and author of the study.

Social media advertising also tends to reach young men more than young women, he adds.

On the other hand, over the last three years, adult consumption has remained low and fairly constant.

The findings are based on a survey of 127,000 people in England, Scotland and Wales between 2020 and 2025, published in Lancet Public Health.

But the rules regarding the marketing of nicotine sachets are set to change.

The legislation passed by Parliament – called the Tobacco and Vapes Bill – would ban their sale to anyone under 18, restrict how they are advertised and give power to regulate flavors, packaging and the nicotine they contain.

The study says this new regulation should be carefully considered so that it does not undermine the potential of sachets to reduce the harms of smoking.

Researchers found that almost three-quarters of current nicotine pouch users are men, half of whom are under 25 years old.

About 6.5% of attempts to quit smoking in 2025 involved the use of sachets, they said.

It is possible that they will also be used to reduce or stop vaping, which is more popular than smoking among young people.

Their use has also increased in places where smoking is prohibited.

“The key is to strike the right balance, discouraging uptake among young people, without making the sachets so restrictive that people would be pushed towards more harmful products like cigarettes,” Dr Tattan-Birch said.

Although they carry fewer health risks than cigarettes and vapes, there are cardiovascular risks for people using pouches containing large amounts of nicotine – and there is growing concern about the damage nicotine pouches cause to gums.

In other countries, the rules regarding pouches are much stricter. Nicotine sachets are banned in Germany and the Netherlands, and soon in France.