Britain’s New Nicotine Addiction that Could Be More Dangerous than Vaping

THE TELEGRAPH: The dangerous rise in these oral pouches is taking a worrying toll on the health of the nation’s youth

A screenshot from this article in the Telegraph | Experts are concerned that the pouches are another attempt by the tobacco industry to keep people addicted | Credit: Getty
Last year, Jessica Kent, a doctor working in the department of emergency medicine at the University of Toronto, found herself with an unusual patient. Confused, nauseous, and slumped on the floor of the emergency department, readings showed that his blood pressure had soared to levels far higher than would be expected for an otherwise healthy 21-year-old university student. When medical staff attempted to ask some simple questions, his responses were nonsensical.

But this patient wasn’t drunk or high on narcotics. It would later transpire that these symptoms were the consequence of a binge on nicotine pouches. While studying, the man had used 15 extra-strength pouches in the space of just 12 hours. » | David Cox | Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Just what exactly has been gained from the war on smoking that has been waged over very many years is difficult to imagine. It seems to me that young people these days are getting up to far worse than smoking a few cigarettes. This habit, for example, is fraught with health dangers. Further, it is hard to imagine a more off-putting habit than sucking on a nicotine pouch! And God only knows what these pouches are doing to the user’s gums. It must surely be hard to have healthy teeth and gums when stuffing nicotine pouches in one’s mouth incessantly. – © Mark Alexander

Biden Expected to Lower Nicotine Levels in Cigarettes

THE CAROLINA JOURNAL: During the final days of the Biden administration, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to issue a mandate for Very Low-Nicotine (VLN) products. The proposed rule could come as soon as Monday.

As tobacco is such a large part of North Carolina’s agricultural industry, the ban would significantly impact one of the state’s top crops. VLN products would lower the nicotine content by 96% as compared to the majority of cigarette brands dominating the market, according to the FDA.

“The Biden administration’s proposed menthol cigarette ban is a direct attack on North Carolina’s hardworking families, farmers, and small businesses,” said freshman Congressman Pat Harrigan, NC-10. “This ban threatens over 27,000 jobs in our state, many of which have been the backbone of our communities for generations. By eliminating the menthol cigarette industry, the government risks devastating our local economies, pushing products into the black market, and undermining the livelihoods of thousands who rely on this industry to support their families.” » | Katherine Zehnder | Monday, January 13, 2025

Leer en español aquí.

THE WASHINGTON POST :

The war on smoking turns to cigarettes with ultralow nicotine: The Biden White House is expected to formally propose a plan ordering cigarette nicotine levels to be reduced dramatically. »

Biden FDA Moves Forward with Rule to Lower Nicotine in Cigarettes, a ‘Gift’ to Cartels, Critic Says

NEW YORK POST: WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is moving forward with plans to mandate lower nicotine levels in cigarettes in the final days of President Biden’s term, according to a new report, which critics say could cause Americans to smoke more and fuel organized crime cartels.

The plan, which is touted as a way to reduce the ability of cigarettes to hook casual users, cleared a regulatory review last week by the Food and Drug Administration, the agency told Fox News.

But opponents argue that the change could cause current smokers to use more cigarettes to compensate for the lower nicotine levels, negatively impacting their health, and that the plan could open an opportunity for black-market sales of standard-strength cigarettes.

“Biden’s ban is a gift with a bow and balloons to organized crime cartels with it, whether it’s cartels, Chinese organized crime, or Russian mafia,” Rich Marianos, a former assistant director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told Fox News.

It’s unclear if the FDA will issue a proposed rule outlining the looming regulation before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20. » | Steven Nelson | Tuesday, January 7, 2025

Why can’t politicians stop meddling? Whay can’t they leave things alone? Why do they always feel that they have to do something? They usually make things worse. – © Mark Alexander

De-demonizing Nicotine | Ending Fear to Promote Benefits

Oct 13, 2023 | According to harm reduction consultant and developmental neurobiologist Charles Gardner, there's a particular piece of information you are not supposed to talk about, promote nor expect public health to acknowledge. What is it? That nicotine is not carcinogenic and, when consumed outside of a cigarette, is relatively benign. Gardner considers it likely that nicotine is no more harmful than caffeine - and in his opinion, it could have significant health benefits. Gardner believes it's time to 'de-demonize nicotine'.

Nicotine Therapeutics: Therapeutic Aspects of Nicotine Stimulation for Brain Disorders

Jun 29, 2018

Dr Bryan Ardis: The Shocking Truth about Nicotine and Its Biz

Mar 3, 2024 | « Live Dr Ardis : la vérité choquante sur la nicotine et son commerce Seth Holehouse, journaliste de Man in America présente une interview avec le Dr Ardis au sujet de la nicotine.

Pour consulter le diaporama, voir le site The Dr Ardis Show rubrique Patient Ressources »

Dr. Bryan Ardis on Nicotine

Streamed live on Apr 21, 2024

The Dr. Ardis Show »

How Nicotine Impacts Your Brain & Enhances Focus | Dr. Andrew Huberman

Oct 15, 2022 | Dr. Andrew Huberman discusses how nicotine impacts your brain and can enhance focus. Dr. Andrew Huberman is a tenured professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford University School of Medicine and host of the Huberman Lab podcast.

Can Nicotine Be Good for You? | Neuroscientist Andrew Huberman … | #shorts

Andrew Huberman has an interesting message for us.

How Smoking Can Be Good for You! | #shorts

Nicotine is great for us!

Nicotine’s Effects on the Brain & Body & How to Quit Smoking or Vaping | Huberman Lab Podcast #90

In this episode, I explain how nicotine impacts the brain and body, including its potent ability to enhance attention, focus, and alertness, increase blood pressure and metabolism and reduce appetite. I discuss nicotine’s ability to increase the action of neurochemicals, including dopamine, norepinephrine, and acetylcholine and activate sympathetic (alertness-promoting) neural circuits. I also discuss common nicotine delivery methods, such as cigarettes, vaping, dip, and snuff, and how they each create their own unique experience and how they, but not nicotine itself, cause cancer and other adverse health effects. I also explain science-based tools to permanently quit smoking cigarettes or vaping, including peer-reviewed clinical hypnosis tools, antidepressants, and alternative nicotine replacement (patches, lozenges, gums etc.). As nicotine is one of the most widely used substances with billions of users — most of whom report wanting to quit — this episode ought to be of interest to former/current nicotine users, those who want to quit smoking or vaping and/or those interested in learning the biology behind how nicotine impacts the brain and body.

Vape Haze – The Thriving Black Market of Vaping | Four Corners | ABC News

Jun 28, 2022 | Vaping was hailed as a new way to quit smoking. But now there are serious concerns it’s hooking a new generation on nicotine. An investigation by Four Corners has found there is a thriving black market, fueled by rising demand among young people and a failure to police the rules. We delve into the fierce battle about the harms of vaping, in what’s become a multi-billion-dollar global industry. Vaping advocates claim any harms caused by e-cigarettes pale in comparison to the dangers of smoking - and that vaping can be an effective quit tool. But public health experts say there’s limited evidence they help to quit smoking, and warn that vaping poses a significant long-term public health risk.
What a surprise! Vaping has become a problem in Australia, especially for young people. Well I never!

Politicians of every stripe, but particularly left-wing politicians, are engaged in social engineering; they are trying to change people’s preferences and habits, and in so doing are causing distortions in the marketplace and are engaging in social engineering. Sometimes things are better left alone. the vowel of your choice—leave things alone?

First of all, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a conventional cigarette as long as one’s smoking is kept within limits and it is done in moderation. I have smoked for most of my adult life; though I have given up now. (With ease, I hasten to add.) Smoking is not an addiction; rather, it is a habit.

They try and say that nicotine is “the most addictive substance known to man”. TOSH! POPPYCOCK! NONSENSE! Nicotine is hardly addictive at all! It is only addictive if you let it be so. I smoked twenty cigarettes a day for most of my adult life and when I gave up, I suffered no withdrawal symptoms whatsoever. Not one! Nor have I had any cravings since giving up. (It will be three months on July 10th since giving up.)

Smoking has become the bête noire of our day; but it is actually a very pleasurable habit. The secret is not letting it control you. Many things can become addictive if you allow them to become so: chocolate, alcohol, sugary foods, gambling, and many other things besides. Self-control and self-discipline are called for.

Governments have been pushing vaping as an alternative to smoking for several years. I find this totally and utterly irresponsible, because we do not know the long-term effects of the habit. Fact is, too, they are very appealing to young people, because they are often high-tech, and because they can be purchased in all sorts of weird and wonderful flavours. So these young people are becoming dependent on them and they are convincing themselves that they are addicted to nicotine. Young people are young are often impressionable, weak-willed, and lacking in discipline.

What needs to be done is for governments to put pressure on the cigarette manufacturers to take the crap out of real cigarettes. Make them take out all those nasty chemicals, make them manufacture safer real cigarettes; and governments should bring the price of real cigarettes right down by taking all that excessive tax off them.

Don’t get me wrong. I am all for bringing down the incidence of smoking; but it should be done by education and gentle persuasion. Social engineering is not only wrong; it is also very dangerous. Because people will get their kicks in life, one way or another. Take one pleasure away from them and they will find another pleasure to replace the one taken away. Moreover, that pleasure denied to people may well turn out in the long-run to be far less injurious to health than the new-fangled habit used to replace it.

Further, while we are on the subjects of smoking and vaping. Smoking a cigarette can look extremely sexy when done by an attractive person. That’s why they have been used to good effect in movies/films over the decades to make handsome actors and beautiful actresses look sexy. Vaping will never be used to replace cigarettes for this purpose. It just doesn’t have that allure. There is hardly anything about vaping which increases one’s sex appeal. Forget it! When I have seen people vaping, cloud-chasing, they look as though there’s a locomotive ahead! Furthermore, putting a hard piece of plastic onto one’s lips is hardly a sensual experience. – © Mark Alexander

On Smoking: Mark Littlewood in Conversation with Simon Clark

On 16th May 2019, to mark the 40th anniversary of the smokers' group FOREST (Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco), Mark Littlewood, director-general of the Institute of Economic Affairs, spoke to Forest director Simon Clark.

DOCU | You Don't Know Nicotine

Amidst radical changes in nicotine use globally, one filmmaker's journey through the confusion & fear leads to a startling discovery about Earth's most hated stimulant. Society may be changed forever.

Will Self and Gregor Hens on Nicotine, Smoking, Vaping and More

Gregor Hens discusses his book, Nicotine, and the joys and perils of smoking, with Will Self. Filmed at the London Review Bookshop on 10 November 2015.

Gregor Hens’ book: Nicotine »

Auf deutsch: Nikotin »

Book Review – NYT: ‘Nicotine,’ the Stuff of Burning Desire »