According to AHREFS – an organization that researches and publishes search data for keywords on Google – monthly search volumes for the keyword phrase “nicotine pouches” have spiked by over 300 percent in Ireland over a span of just two years. This phenomenon isn’t unique to the Emerald Isle. Grand View Research predicts that the worldwide market for nicotine pouches will continue to grow at a compound annual rate of 34 percent each year from 2024-2030, reaching a total size of over USD $3 billion by the end of the decade.

The search volume for nicotine pouches has grown rapidly in Ireland over the past two years.

Meanwhile, the smoking rate in Ireland continues to decline rapidly. That’s not a coincidence.

So, if you’re wondering why Dublin’s streets are a bit less smoke filled these days – perhaps you’re even a smoker yourself and are looking for an alternative that might work for you – it’s time to learn about what nicotine pouches are and why they’re so popular.

What Are Nicotine Pouches?

Nicotine pouches are small, white pouches that contain powdered nicotine, flavors and plant-based fillers and binders. They look similar to snus – another popular pouch-based nicotine product – but the difference is that snus contains tobacco, whereas nicotine pouches do not. The nicotine in a nicotine pouch may be pharma-grade nicotine extracted from tobacco, or it may be synthetic tobacco-free nicotine.

You use a nicotine pouch by placing it in your mouth behind your upper lip. While you use the pouch, you enjoy the flavor while the nicotine absorbs through the tissue in your mouth. The pouch provides a satisfying tingle for about 30-60 minutes, and you discard it when the flavor fades.

Why Are Nicotine Pouches So Popular in Ireland?

Paras Parmar – owner of Dublin vape shop The Vape Life – says that he has noticed greatly increased interest in nicotine pouches among his customer base. “I think the popularity comes down to the fact that you can use the pouches anywhere,” Parmar says. “Although vaping has many benefits compared to smoking, you can’t vape in places where smoking isn’t allowed. People are very interested in a nicotine product that has no restrictions.”

Another benefit of nicotine pouches compared to traditional oral tobacco products is that they’re available in a wide variety of strengths and flavors. You can choose anything from a low-strength pouch that provides a gentle tingle to a strong portion that provides the same burn as chewing tobacco – or something in between. Nicotine pouches use food-grade flavoring agents and are available in flavors as diverse as cola, mint, fruit and more.

Are Nicotine Pouches the Same as Snus or Chewing Tobacco?

Nicotine pouches are very different from snus or chewing tobacco because they contain isolated nicotine rather than tobacco. Although they provide the same satisfying sensation as oral tobacco products, they don’t stain the teeth or require spitting like traditional chewing tobacco. As with vaping, the fact that nicotine pouches contain no tobacco may also potentially confer lower risk compared to tobacco products. However, the health aspect of nicotine pouches has yet to undergo significant research.

Although they have many positive aspects compared to snus and chewing tobacco, nicotine pouches do have one potential drawback in that they don’t taste like tobacco products. While nicotine pouches do come in an enormous variety of flavors, there’s no way to recreate the flavor of tobacco with food-grade flavoring agents alone. That said, nicotine pouches also won’t give you bad breath – so they’re certainly a lot more date friendly.

How Do Nicotine Pouches Work?

If you’re a smoker or vaper and have never used snus or other oral tobacco products before, it might be useful to have a primer on how nicotine pouches work and how you use them.

• You use a nicotine pouch by putting it in your mouth behind your upper lip. This is the same way that you use snus. You can also put a nicotine pouch behind your lower lip like chewing tobacco if you like, but doing so will increase your salivary production and could potentially cause hiccups or an upset stomach.
• Some nicotine pouches are pre-moistened with propylene glycol, and others aren’t. If you don’t feel a tingle upon putting a nicotine pouch in your mouth, you may need to moisten it with a little saliva. Your gum should begin to tingle within seconds; that’s how you know the nicotine is absorbing through your mouth.
• If the tingling sensation becomes unpleasant, move the pouch to the other side of your mouth. If you’re using a thicker nicotine pouch, you may also need to reshape the pouch with your mouth periodically to redistribute the contents. Don’t chew the pouch, though, because the material may break. The contents of a nicotine pouch are plant based and won’t injure you, but they could cause stomach discomfort and certainly won’t taste good.
• After about 30-60 minutes, you’ll notice that the pouch will stop producing a tingle and may not have much flavor remaining. At this point, you can throw the pouch away. Some nicotine pouch brands actually put hollow sections into their cans that you can use for short-term disposal of spent pouches when you aren’t near a wastebasket.

Will Nicotine Pouches Become More Popular than Vaping in Ireland?

Although the market for nicotine pouches in Ireland has grown by more than 300 percent over the past two years, the number of people searching for “vapes” in the same timespan has remained roughly the same. Nevertheless, the number of people who vape in Ireland is quite large, with recent estimates suggesting that about 318,000 people – or about 8 percent of the adult population – are vapers. Nicotine pouch users likely represent less than 1 percent of the population. Nevertheless, interest is growing rapidly.

The search volume for “vapes” in Ireland has remained essentially static for two years.

Although the number of people in Ireland using nicotine pouches will probably not outpace the number of vapers – at least not any time soon – there’s no denying the fact that it’s great for the nicotine users of the country to have another option that doesn’t involve tobacco.

Headline image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.