The tobacco product landscape is constantly evolving, with new nicotine pouches rapidly increasing in popularity. Nicotine pouches (e.g., Zyn) are small, tobacco-free pouches that contain nicotine powder and flavorings. They are placed between the lip and gum, resulting in rapid nicotine absorption. Evidence indicates that the use of nicotine pouches will likely increase exponentially over the course of the next few years. However, very little work has been done to understand who is likely to use nicotine pouches and how the product will alter tobacco use patterns.
Now, with a new R01 from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Food and Drug Administration, Elias Klemperer, PhD and Co-Principal Investigator Matthew Carpenter, PhD will lead a team of researchers across the University of Vermont, Medical University of South Carolina, and the University of Pennsylvania to study nicotine pouch use patterns. For adults who currently smoke cigarettes or use traditional smokeless tobacco products, a complete switch to nicotine pouches could result in harm reduction. However, for those who do not already use tobacco, nicotine pouches could serve as a risk for transitioning to more harmful products. One major goal of the new study is to identify use patterns that lead to initiation of conventional tobacco products versus those that lead to a transition out of cigarette and conventional smokeless tobacco use.
Data from this study will be pooled with data from an ongoing study that uses the same methodology to investigate e-cigarettes. The resulting dataset will be made publicly available and will include eight cohorts of adults who use combinations of nicotine pouches, cigarettes, traditional smokeless tobacco products, and e-cigarettes.
Ultimately the team hopes these studies will provide an in-depth understanding of multiple tobacco product use patterns and have clinical and regulatory implications for nicotine pouches, the fastest growing nicotine product in the US marketplace.
