Smoke Free Sweden: Legal Limbo for Nicotine Pouches Deprives Argentina’s Women of Best Tool to Quit Smoking

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On International Women’s Day (March 8), Argentina’s policymakers are being warned that failure to regulate oral nicotine pouches is depriving women of an innovation linked to one of the world’s sharpest declines in female smoking.

The warning accompanies the release of a new report, Empowerment in a Pouch, which documents how access to tobacco-free nicotine pouches has accelerated Sweden’s progress toward becoming smoke-free, particularly among women.

“Sweden’s experience shows what happens when women are given realistic alternatives to smoking,” said Professor Marewa Glover, behavioural scientist and co-author. “When safer options are accessible and clearly regulated, women quit at scale. When alternatives are banned or left in limbo, cigarettes remain the default.”

In Argentina, nicotine pouches remain unregulated, creating uncertainty for consumers, health professionals and policymakers. At the same time, vaping products remain banned and heated tobacco products were prohibited in 2023, leaving combustible cigarettes dominant.

The health stakes are significant. Daily smoking among adult women in Argentina is estimated at about 18% in 2025, leaving millions exposed to preventable cancer, cardiovascular disease and respiratory illness.

The report shows that since nicotine pouches became available in Sweden in 2016:

• Women’s smoking rates have fallen by nearly 50% and are now among the lowest globally.
• Women’s quit rates have increased roughly threefold, putting Sweden on track to become the first smoke-free country (defined as adult daily smoking below 5%).
• Female smoking is declining six times faster than elsewhere in Europe, according to WHO data.

Nicotine pouches contain no tobacco and involve no combustion. Placed under the lip, they deliver nicotine without smoke, vapour or odour. Research participants ranked them as the most effective quitting aid, outperforming vapes and traditional nicotine replacement therapies.

“As Argentina reviews its tobacco control strategy, it faces a critical opportunity,” said Dr Delon Human, co-author and former secretary-general of the World Medical Association. “Clear, risk-based regulation of smoke-free products could reduce smoking-related disease. Continuing uncertainty risks locking women into the most harmful form of nicotine use.”