THURSDAY, May 8, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Nontobacco nicotine use in U.S. youth shifted from 2023 to 2024 toward greater use of nicotine pouches, according to a study published online April 30 in JAMA Network Open.

Dae-Hee Han, Ph.D., from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and colleagues estimated the prevalence of U.S. youth nicotine pouch and electronic cigarette use, as well as associated sociodemographic variables. The analysis included 10,146 students (10th and 12th graders) participating in the Monitoring the Future Study (2023 and 2024).

The researchers found that nicotine pouch use increased from 2023 to 2024 for lifetime use (3.0 versus 5.4 percent; risk ratio [RR], 1.76), use in the past 12 months (2.4 versus 4.6 percent; RR, 1.95), and use in the past 30 days (1.3 versus 2.6 percent; RR, 2.05). During the study period, e-cigarette use did not significantly change for lifetime use (28.5 versus 26.7 percent) or past-30-day use (13.4 versus 11.8 percent) but decreased for past-12-month use (20.0 versus 17.6 percent). Males reported higher prevalence of nicotine pouch use than females, while females reported higher e-cigarette use than males. Rural versus urban youth and non-Hispanic White versus Hispanic youth were more likely to use each product.

“This growing public health issue needs more attention. Like flavored e-cigarettes when they first emerged, use of this new oral nicotine product is becoming more widespread, particularly among adolescents,” Han said in a press release.

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