Snus and Nicotine Pouches: what they are, and why it is better to avoid them

The chronicle of these hours has highlighted a term that may seem new to some: we speak of the snusa type of oral tobacco sold exclusively in Sweden and forbidden in the rest of Europe which would have caused a race to the hospital for two thirteen -year -olds from Ferrara. The girls warned Typs heads, palpitations, nausea and dizziness After – it looks like – having consumed the snus in class, in the lesson hours.

The conditional is a must because Snus’s consumption is illegal in our country And with the term snus it is used to designate the Nicotine Pouches (Nicotine sachets), which in Italy are on sale legally, but for adults only. There are no epidemiological data on the consumption of traditional Swedish SNUS in the boot and it is not clear, at the moment, if the Ferrara episode is linked to Snus in sachets or instead of nicotine sachets. What is the difference between the two? What are the risks of the consumption of Snus and Nicotine Pouches?

We asked him to Roberto Boffipneumologist, head of pneumology and the anti -smoking center of the National Cancer Institute EA Sabrina MolinaroHead of the Epidemiology and Research Section on IFC-CNR health services and head of the Espad study.

Snus is Wet tobacco powder for oral useproduced through a humidification process: the raw tobacco mixed with water, sodium carbonate and aromas is dried with steam jets. It consumes inserting it in the mouth between the upper lip and the gum And thus keeping it for a variable time (from half an hour to hour), after which it is spitted and – often – starts again.

The traditional Swedish SNUS (Lössnus) is one Out -sold powder still wet In tin boxes, rolled up in Pizzichi – taken – with fingers. Then exists The Snus already portioned and pre -packaged in sachets similar to those of tea, Not to be confused with the nicotine bags (Nicotine Pouches) For sale legally – to adults only – also in Italy.

The Nicotine Pouches are not snus and do not contain tobacco: inside there are variable doses of nicotine in salts, more suitable for oral use, as well as filler and aromas. Even these breathable bags, similar to small tea sachets, are inserted between the lip and the gum, where once wet from the saliva they promote a gradual release of nicotine in the oral mucosa.

How the snus are often used in places where smoking is forbidden And like Snus – and although, unlike this, they do not contain tobacco – they harm health, because they favor Nicotine addiction.

“Given that we are talking about minors, for which the use of both is forbidden, even in adults the nicotine bags give a very strong addiction, because they contain nicotine concentrations dozens of higher times than those present in candies, tires and nicotine spray”, clarifies Boffi.

“Nicotine Pouches are not pharmaceutical products for disassessment from smoking: go to perpetuate or even increase addiction or Promote dual usethe intake of nicotine also in environments where smoking is forbidden. Therefore their effectiveness on the Smoking cessation It is zero. Indeed, here at the anti -smoking center we are starting to see above all young people with Nicotinic Polydlenders: from electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco, traditional cigarettes, transvered and now also the nicotine bags. Snus is more harmful again because there is tobacco ».

“The ESPAD®italia study analyzes data relating to the consumption of psychoactive substances and at risk behaviors put in place by Italian students aged between 15 and 19 years. The questionnaire includes a series of information relating to the consumption of tobacco and nicotine, monitoring its changes and evolutions. Over time, in fact, further variables of interest have been added such as the use of electronic cigarettes and without combustion and, in 2024, also the use of Nicotine Pouches “, explains Molinaro.

«The data of the study show that 6.8% of students, equal to Almost 170,000 15-19 year oldshe used Nicotine Pouches at least once in his life, over 130,000 students did it in the year (5.2%) and about 70,000 in the month (3%). I am especially the boys (males) to report the consumption of Nicotine Pouches. The use of nicotine in this mode characterizes above all students of the age of age, especially compared to consumption in life and in the year, while less marked differences are observed than consumption in the month. As a age grows, gender differences also increase. “

«Among those who use Nicotine Pouches There is a greater use of other sources of nicotine. 88-89% of the students who used Nicotine Pouches (in life, in the year or in the month) they also smoked traditional cigarettes at least once in their lives e More than half is a daily smoker.

The 15-19-year-old users of Nicotine Pouches consume electronic cigarettes, cigarettes without combustion and sniff tobacco in greater percentages, too.

“What is most striking is not only the high number of young people who have tried the Nicotine Pouches, but the fact that their use often takes place in conjunction with other methods of nicotine consumption, such as traditional smoking and vaping. This data suggests A painting of polycyconsumo among the boyswhich could amplify the risks related to dependence and exposure to nicotine “, clarifies Molinaro.

The nicotine contained in the snus and in nicotine bags is a psychotropic substance that causes dependence and addiction. It acts on the central nervous system, first giving a feeling of pleasure and relaxation – the same -spite effect that makes it difficult to quit smoking – and at a later time stimulating the mocking glands that secrete adrenaline, with a consequent increase in respiratory rhythm, blood pressure and heart rate.

«Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor who causes Erectile dysfunction, impotence, increase in pressure, nausea, high dosages overhanging changes with fainting risk: symptoms that we have also observed in a couple of our patients who used disposable electronic cigarettes. Nicotine is a drug and not even harmless, and we are talking about the adult. In the boy it is all magnified, and in girls even more because the female sex is much more susceptible against smoking and also nicotine, “adds Boffi.

The symptoms described, to which can be added possible local reactions in the mouth as swelling and itching, damage to the teeth and gums, attenuate after a few minutes: the problem is that the possibility of consuming snus and nicotine bags virtually no-stop It facilitates nicotine addiction and makes it quit more difficult.

Furthermore, precisely because of the difficult regulation and the highest concentration of nicotine compared to cigarettes It is easy to get to an excessive nicotine dosageespecially for the adolescents body.

In the European Union Snus’s sale has been illegal since 1992. The base is a WHO study that has shown that oral tobacco use like Snus can be carcinogen for human beings. Although Snus, not being inhaled both without substances that are formed for the combustion of tobacco present in cigarettes, is thought to increase the risk of developing mouth tumors (cheeks and gums).

The only country in which the sale is allowed is the Swedenwhich inserted the exemption from the ban on the sales of the SNUS in the EU’s membership treaty of the EU in 1994. A minority of the scientific community – the proponents of the “damage reduction” – has been questioned over the years On the opportunity to consider Snus an alternative to cigarettes.

“We are talking about Two girls: what is the reduction of the damage? At that age the body is still in the development phase, and we know well that most of the users of these products are dual: outdoors they also smoke “, specifies Boffi.

“There is no reduction in damage. Since we speak of nicotine, both on a cardiovascular level, and of erectile dysfunction and on the oncological level, being dual is worse and smoking one. This is only a way to take nicotine in two different ways. And let’s not compare it absolutely to the Nicotinian replacement therapy that is in the pharmacy: patches, inhalers, tires, candies, sublingual sprays have dosages dozens of vaults of nicotine compared to those contained in bags and Snus and are data under medical or pharmacist control “.