Consumer and harm-reduction advocates have criticized the World Health Organization over its latest report on nicotine pouches, arguing it fails to clearly distinguish between combustible cigarettes and smoke-free nicotine products and risks discouraging smokers from switching to lower-risk alternatives. The WHO raised concerns about youth-oriented marketing, flavors, and discreet-use messaging while calling for tighter controls, and, for example, criticized the marketing slogan “no smoke, no smell, no hassle.” Campaigners such as Considerate Pouchers UK and We Vape, however, said WHO is disseminating dangerous misinformation, as the slogan is factually accurate and reflects relative risk differences.
“Nicotine pouches do not produce smoke or smell, and pretending otherwise is scientifically absurd,” said Richard Crosby, director of Considerate Pouchers UK, describing the report as part of a “broad, aggressive anti-nicotine ideology.”
Academics from University College London and the University of East Anglia were cited as saying that while youth safeguards are necessary, nicotine pouches are likely far less harmful than cigarettes and could have a role in harm reduction. The groups also pointed to Sweden’s low smoking rates and the UK’s new regulatory framework under the Tobacco and Vapes Act as examples of risk-proportionate approaches that restrict youth access while preserving adult alternatives.
