Smoke Free Sweden: Nicotine Pouch Restrictions Deprive German Women of Best Tool to Quit Smoking

BERLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On International Women’s Day (March 8), Germany’s policymakers are being warned that restrictions on oral nicotine pouches are depriving women of an innovation linked to one of the world’s sharpest declines in female smoking.

The warning accompanies the release of Empowerment in a Pouch, a new report documenting how access to tobacco-free nicotine pouches has accelerated Sweden’s progress towards 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 in large numbers. When products are pushed into legal uncertainty, cigarettes remain the easiest option.”

In Germany, tobacco-free oral nicotine pouches are effectively blocked from the market, with authorities classifying them as unauthorised “novel foods” or medicinal products. Enforcement actions have prevented legal sales, leaving cigarettes widely available while lower-risk alternatives remain in regulatory limbo. Germany’s female smoking rate, at around 27.3%, continues to expose millions of women to preventable disease and premature death.

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

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

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

Research participants rated nicotine pouches as the most effective quitting aid, outperforming vapes and traditional nicotine replacement therapies. Women ranked pouches almost three times higher than vapes and 56% higher than nicotine gum.

“As Germany seeks greater coherence in nicotine policy, clarity will be essential,” said Dr Delon Human, co-author and former secretary-general of the World Medical Association. “Regulation should reflect relative risk. Leaving smoke-free products in limbo risks entrenching smoking and denying women access to tools proven transformative elsewhere.”