Tobacco Asia

32 tobaccoasia Issue 4, 2026 July / August By Timothy S. Donahue The World Health Organization (WHO) has pushed nicotine pouches straight into the middle of the tobacco-control firestorm. A new WHO publication, Exposing Marketing Tactics and Strategies Driving the Global Growth of Nicotine Pouches, is its toughest take yet on a fast-growing oral nicotine category. The report says companies are borrowing from the old cigarette playbook, using lifestyle branding, online influencer, sports tie-ins, and flavors, all aimed at driving sales across borders. WHO frames the spread as an immediate public health problem, especially in places where rules are thin or nonexistent. "Governments are seeing the use of these products spread quick- ly, especially among adolescents and young people who are being ag- gressively targeted by deceptive tactics," said Etienne Krug, director of the WHO Department of Health Determinants. "These products are engineered for addiction." That language landed like a match in dry grass. Pushback came quickly from parts of the nicotine industry and from harm-reduction advocates who argue the report blurs the line between nicotine and smoking. Derek Yach, a former WHO director and tobacco harm re- duction expert, offered one of the sharpest rebukes. Asked for his initial reaction, Yach said he felt extreme disgust. In his view, WHO should support nicotine pouches as substitutes for far more dangerous combustible tobacco use, pointing to Sweden and Iceland, as well as Indonesia and Pakistan, where he says nicotine pouches are displacing higher-risk products. "Gutkha use is soaring in India, driving oral cancer among the poorest. Kretek (clove) cigarette use exceeds 65% in Indonesia. These two countries include the 2nd and 3rd largest number of smokers and tobacco users," he said. "An ethically and scientifically grounded policy POUCH PANIC WHO's Nicotine Pouch Report Sparks a Global Harm-Reduction Brawl WHO's recent report on nicotine pouches focuses largely on marketing practices rather than toxicology. Credit: Jonathan Cooper, Pexels. WHO's latest attack on nicotine pouches prompted backlash from both the nicotine industry and harm reduction advocates. Credit Olavi Rantala, CC2.0 would encourage tobacco users to switch or quit [smoking combustibles by] using nicotine pouch- es. Not raise doubts. The toxic profile of [nicotine pouches] is almost identical to NRTs, which the WHO endorses." Chris Howard, executive vice president for external affairs and new product compliance at Swisher International, the parent of the Rogue nico- tine pouch brand, also rejected the WHO's report, especially its framework concerning dual use. "We disagree with the suggestion that nicotine pouches inherently promote continued smoking or simply normalize nicotine use without supporting meaningful movement away from combustible ciga- rettes," Howard said. "The more important public health question is whether adult smokers are mi- grating away from the highest-risk products, namely combustible cigarettes, and the available evidence increasingly suggests that many are." Howard cited a 2024 Rogue-sponsored study of adult smokers who used Rogue nicotine pouch, gum, and lozenge products. He said nearly two- thirds of the 1,393 participants who completed the six-month study either quit or significantly reduced their combustible use, and 13.3% reported they had stopped smoking entirely by the end. Trade groups piled on as well. The Global Institute for Novel Nicotine (GINN) sent a joint statement to Tobacco Asia, signed by Shem Baldeosingh and several GINN members and advisors. Their message was mixed: they agreed on strong youth protections and responsible marketing rules but argued that WHO dodged the core question of whether pouches can help adults quit cigarettes.

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