Survey finds 89% of Icelanders consider nicotine pouches harmful

A survey commissioned by pharmaceutical and health products company Artasan found that 89% of respondents consider nicotine pouches harmful to individual health, mbl.is reported. The survey also found that 74% were very concerned about their growing use among young people.

Of those surveyed, 56% considered nicotine pouches very harmful and 33% considered them fairly harmful. The survey was conducted by Maskína late last month among 2,255 people aged 18 and over.

Artasan published the findings with its response to draft legislation on nicotine and tobacco controls. The company said it was important to distinguish clearly between nicotine medicines and general nicotine products such as nicotine pouches.

While reducing nicotine consumption and protecting public health was important, Artasan said people who wanted to stop smoking or using nicotine needed easier access to nicotine medicines. The company proposed assessing whether certain nicotine medicines should be sold outside pharmacies, as is permitted elsewhere in the Nordic countries.

The survey found that 64% of respondents believed the government should place greater emphasis on helping people stop smoking, while 71% said it should do more to help people stop using nicotine pouches.

Fifty-seven per cent agreed that nicotine medicines should be available outside pharmacies, such as in grocery stores or kiosks. Eighteen per cent disagreed.

Overall, 16.5% of respondents said they regularly used nicotine pouches and 9.8% used nicotine e-cigarettes. Just over 6% regularly smoked cigarettes, while 4.3% used nicotine medicines and 2.2% used snuff. Smaller proportions used other nicotine products, including cigars and snus. About 68% said they used neither nicotine products nor nicotine medicines.

Nicotine pouch use was more common among men, at 20.3%, than women, at 12.4%. It was highest among younger respondents, reaching 32.4% among those aged 25 to 29 and 24.9% among people under 25.

The draft legislation aims to reduce the use of tobacco and nicotine products, particularly among young people. It proposes various restrictions, including limits on the sale of nicotine products containing flavourings and stronger monitoring.

Nearly 30 submissions have been made through the consultation portal. The draft legislation’s explanatory memorandum cites research by the Nordic Welfare Centre which found that 33% of people aged 18 to 24 in Iceland used nicotine pouches, the highest proportion among the Nordic and Baltic countries surveyed.