Children and Young People’s views and experiences of Nicotine Pouches

We heard from young people via our online poll, as well as through face to face engagement at colleges in East Sussex. We heard from 165 young people as part of our initial factfinding work, and 130 young people as part of our more in-depth engagement. The feedback we received related to a number of themes including:

• Awareness and access
• Levels of understanding
• Impact on individuals and
• Availability of information 

Key findings

• Young people’s understanding of what nicotine pouches are varies
• Although the amount of young people smoking and vaping is potentially higher, young people are using nicotine pouches, with some young people using nicotine pouches alongside cigarettes and/or vapes
• Some young people have experienced negative effects after using nicotine pouches
• Robust and objective information is not available on the potential health and wellbeing effects of using nicotine pouches
• No NHS or alternative support mechanisms seem to exist for anyone seeking support to stop using nicotine pouches

Next steps

Healthwatch East Sussex will share our findings with local partners including East Sussex County Council, Public Health, and NHS Surrey and Sussex to raise awareness of young people’s use and experiences of nicotine pouches. To follow on from this work, we will be launching a Sussex-wide survey for all age groups, aiming to dive deeper into people’s experiences of using nicotine pouches.