5% of 10th- and 12th-graders say they’ve used nicotine pouches

More U.S. high-schoolers used nicotine pouches — smokeless nicotine powder products — last year than the year before, according to new research published in JAMA Network Open.

The researchers, who used data from a nationally representative survey of 10,146 youths in 2023 and 2024, said 5.4% of 10th- and 12th-graders reported having used nicotine pouches, up from 3% the year before. The 10th- and 12th-graders’ use of pouches in the 12 months and 30 days before the surveys also increased year to year. Males were also more likely to use pouches than females.

Looking at race and ethnicity data, use was highest among White, non-Hispanic 10th- and 12th-grade teens — 9% had used a nicotine pouch at some point. Teens in rural areas were also more likely to use the products than urban or suburban youths: In 2024, 11.2% of rural youths vs. 5.9% of suburban and 3% of urban youths said they’d used a pouch.

The use of pouches and electronic cigarettes increased from 2023 to 2024, the researchers found. But the sole use of electronic cigarettes decreased across a lifetime, as well as in the previous 12 months and past 30 days. According to the authors, the increased dual use with electronic cigarettes suggests a shift in the pattern of use.

The study authors urged “prioritizing surveillance, regulation and prevention addressing pediatric nicotine pouch use.”

“While these products may provide alternatives for adult tobacco users, it remains essential to maintain strong regulatory oversight, public health education and ongoing surveillance to monitor potential youth uptake and risk of nicotine dependence,” Dae-Hee Han, a population and public health scientist at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and first author of the study, wrote in an email to The Washington Post.