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

BRASÍLIA, Brazil--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On International Women’s Day (March 8), Brazil’s policymakers are being warned that failing to regulate oral nicotine pouches is denying women access to an innovation that has helped drive one of the world’s steepest declines in female smoking.

The warning accompanies the release of a new report, Empowerment in a Pouch, documenting 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 smokers, especially women, are given realistic alternatives to cigarettes,” said Professor Marewa Glover, behavioural scientist and co-author of the report. “When safer options are accessible, smoking rates fall rapidly. When alternatives are banned or left unregulated, cigarettes remain dominant.”

In Brazil, vaping and heated tobacco products are banned, while nicotine pouches remain in a legal grey zone. In May 2025, Brazil’s Ministry of Health reported that smoking prevalence is rising for the first time since 2007 and is now more than double Sweden’s rate.

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 roughly tripled, putting Sweden on track to become the world’s first smoke-free country (defined as adult daily smoking below 5%).
• Female smoking is declining six times faster in Sweden than elsewhere in Europe, according to WHO data.

Nicotine pouches contain no tobacco and involve no combustion. Used orally, they deliver pharmaceutical-grade nicotine without smoke, vapour or odour. Survey data and focus groups show women value their discretion, convenience and compatibility with work and family life.

“As Brazil reassesses its tobacco-control strategy, the evidence points to a clear opportunity,” said Dr Delon Human, report co-author and former secretary-general of the World Medical Association. “Recognising and regulating smoke-free nicotine products according to their risk could help reverse the rise in smoking. Leaving nicotine pouches in legal limbo risks prolonging dependence on cigarettes.”

Participants rated nicotine pouches as the most effective quitting aid, outperforming vapes and traditional nicotine replacement therapies.

Further findings show:

• Women ranked pouches almost three times higher than vapes and 56% higher than nicotine gum.
• 60% of female users cited flavour variety as a key reason for choosing pouches.