France plans ban on nicotine pouches

France plans to ban nicotine pouches, which have gained popularity among teenagers, according to Health Minister Geneviève Darrieussecq.
“They are dangerous products because they contain high doses of nicotine,” Darrieussecq told Le Parisien, adding that the ban will be announced in the coming weeks.
“The marketing of these products is directly targeted at young people and I hope that we can protect our young people,” she said.
Nicotine pouches are small bags of nicotine, flavoring and plant-based fibers that are placed under the lip to release a hit.
Companies have been marketing them as safer alternative to smoking cigarettes.
But according to Darrieussecq, they can be just as dangerous, “especially when they are used not by former smokers but by young people,” she said.
She argued the pouches risk inducing nicotine addiction and serve as an entry into smoking.
In June, 12 EU health ministers pressured the European Commission to introduce restrictions for nicotine products on the market, while also banning flavored vapes.
“I am very concerned because poison control centers are receiving more and more calls from teenagers for acute nicotine syndromes, sometimes severe, in connection with the consumption of the pouches,” Darrieussecq told the French newspaper.
“It is our duty to prohibit the marketing of these products,” she added.