Kelowna researcher finds TikTok pushing nicotine pouches to young people

Nicotine pouches are meant to help people stop smoking, but a researcher in Kelowna thinks that social media is going to turn the pouches into a gateway to nicotine addiction. 

Dr. Laura Struik is an associate professor at the University of British Columbia Okanagan and she found that TikTok makes nicotine pouches like Zyn seem like a popular lifestyle choice rather than a smoking cessation product, according to a press release from UBCO issued Thursday, Nov. 27.

“Oral nicotine pouches have become a popular alternative nicotine product, especially among youth,” Struik said in the release. “This is concerning, given the substantial health risks associated with nicotine use at an early age. Popular, youth-led social media channels are being used to promote these products as a source of pleasure and indulgence.”

She analyzed 250 TikToks that had gathered 16 million likes, more than 114,120 comments and almost two million shares. 

Her study found that content creators showed how easy, discreet and shareable the pouches are. There were also videos telling people they could use multiple pouches at once and use pouches throughout the day.

“One particular brand was framed as empowering, exclusive and socially desirable, where using the brand meant that you were part of a movement,” Struik said.

Social media is an effective way for tobacco companies to reach young people and make nicotine pouches seem like a cool thing to do, she said. 

“Social media serves as a powerful tool for the tobacco industry in normalizing the use of their products among youth — a profitable demographic for the industry because of young people’s propensity to become addicted to these products,” she said. “This is a runaway train that we will be chasing after for years. They are not cessation products; they are nicotine addiction starters.”

Another study from the McCreary Centre Society found that youth aren’t using nicotine pouches at the same rate as vaping. 

The society’s study included a survey of youth between the ages of 12 to 19 and found that 31 per cent had tried vaping, 19 per cent had tried tobacco and 11 per cent had tried nicotine pouches. There were 2,784 youths surveyed and 223 were from the BC Interior.

The society’s executive director Annie Smith previously told iNFOnews.ca that although kids are vaping more there should still be concern about nicotine pouches. 

“The younger they are when they start, the more likely they are to struggle with it later in life,” Smith said. “I don’t think 11 per cent is nothing to worry about, it’s a number to be really aware of.”

Nicotine pouches are currently only legally sold in pharmacies around Canada, but they are still available online.

“I definitely think keeping them in pharmacies is the way to go,” Smith said. “I don’t imagine there would be many adults that would complain about the extra safeguards being in place for young people.”

Struik said it’s important to look at how people are talking about nicotine pouches in order to safeguard young people.

“Understanding the ways that people communicate about these products on social media is critical to informing public health efforts aimed at protecting youth from the harms of nicotine,” she said.