Minister for Health says she intends to ban 'horrible horrible' nicotine pouches

Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has said nicotine pouches are “one of the worst inventions of all time” and said she intends to ban them.

The minister made her comments while speaking to the press at the official opening of St Otteran’s Integrated Healthcare Hub in Waterford City recently.

The minister said that Ireland was a leader in terms of reducing smoking and that she intends to bring strong legislation around vapes and nicotine products.

“Our next challenge is to continue to ban those products that get everybody but particularly children addicted to nicotine and anything connected to that, vapes, those horrible horrible nicotine pouches, which have to be one of the worst inventions of all time, and we will be going at it systematically as we have done every other nicotine-based product to make Ireland a smoking free zone,” said Minister MacNeill.   

In March, the Waterford News and Star published a piece detailing how nicotine pouches, which are unregulated, and vapes, which breach current laws, are widely available in shops across the city.

Nicotine pouches are a relatively new product in Ireland but have increased in popularity over the last year.

They are small pouches of nicotine and flavourings and are sold in most newsagents, as well as sweetshops, vape stores and supermarkets.

They are placed under the lip for around 30 minutes and unlike the already banned snus, they do not contain tobacco. 

The Department of Health confirmed to the Waterford News and Star in March that there is no legislation either domestically or at a European level to regulate the sale of nicotine pouches.

Internationally, regulation of nicotine pouches has proven difficult, as there is a lack of independent research on the health impacts of these products.

Independent research refers to studies carried out by organisations that neither sell the products nor are affiliated with companies that do.