In the new law, nicotine pouches are supposed to be equated with snuff containing tobacco. This would mean a ban on the sale of bags and restrictions on imports.
“Good, a forward-looking decision”, expert of Ehyt ry of the Prevention of Substance Abuse Association Saija Himanka start.
Himanka talks about the recent policy of the Pharmaceutical Safety and Development Center Fimea. In its policy, Fimea canceled the classification of nicotine pouches as medicine.
Nicotine pouches refer to sachets containing nicotine without tobacco.
Fimea’s decision is linked to the preparation of new tobacco legislation initiated by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. It is used as a basis for preparation the proposal of the development working group, which would equate a nicotine snuff to a traditional snuff containing tobacco.
In practice, this would mean a ban on the sale of nicotine pouches and restrictions on imports.
“It has been harmful that nicotine pouches could be bundled up as medicine and marketed as such,” Himanka states.
“When they are brought under the Tobacco Act, we will be able to catch them better and preventively.”
Read more: Strong nicotine pouches may be imported freely
Fimean however, the decision has significant short-term consequences. When Fimea no longer classifies nicotine pouches as medicine, Customs will stop supervising their importation.
“With Fimea’s policy, nicotine pouches are treated from the perspective of Customs in the same way as any other goods”, Director of Customs Supervision Hannu Sinkkonen previously told HS.
In the past, stronger nicotine sachets containing more than 4 mg of nicotine have been classified as medicine, the order of which required a prescription. Because of the line, Customs has taken over or confiscated illegally imported nicotine pouches and, if necessary, started a preliminary investigation.
Although the long-term goal is therefore to curb the sale and import of nicotine pouches, Fimea’s approach to their import in the short term is freed up.
“This is a tricky thing when no one is able to limit imports now,” says Himanka.
Ehyt ry Himanka highlights the special quality of nicotine pouches among nicotine products. EU Tobacco Product Directive banned the sale of flavored cigarettes in Finland already years ago, although the prohibition is prohibited by selling special flavor strips.
Nicotine bags, on the other hand, are marketed with numerous flavor combinations, where only the sky is the limit.
“There are an awful lot of flavors and products, and new ones are coming all the time,” says Himanka.
“A large part of those who use these have never smoked or used traditional snuff.”
Particularly However, Himanka is worried about the strengths of the nicotine pouches. Whereas a traditional snuff usually contains around 8–12 mg of nicotine, the amount of nicotine in a nicotine bag can be up to ten times that.
“I have seen 100 mg and 150 mg products that were advertised as candy and teddy bear flavors,” says Himanka.
“In terms of nicotine concentrations in particularly strong nicotine pouches, we are on the verge of poisoning.”
The strong ones According to Tullin Sinkkonen, ordering nicotine pouches started to become more common due to the corona pandemic in the spring of 2020, when importing snuff became more difficult due to corona restrictions.
The first signs of the new phenomenon were visible in December 2019.
“During the last three years or so, Customs has taken over two thousand nicotine pouches,” says Sinkkonen.
In 2020 alone, Customs seized more than 900 nicotine pouches.
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