WHO Warns Nicotine Pouch Brands Targeting Youth as Sales Surge
Could tobacco industry donations have influenced President Trump to change FDA’s stance on flavored vapes and flavored nicotine pouches?
Photo by Angela Kotsell
On May 15—three days after Dr. Marty Makary resigned as commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—the World Health Organization issued a strong warning over the global expansion of nicotine pouches which are being marketed to children, adolescents, and young adults.
“Retail sales of nicotine pouches reached over 23 billion units in 2024, increasing by more than 50% from the previous year,” notes a press release that promotes the report.
The report, titled Exposing marketing tactics and strategies driving the growth of nicotine pouches, emphasizes that the global market was worth nearly $7 billion in 2025.
It emphasizes industry tactics to appeal to young users. These include:
sleek, discreet packaging;
flavors such as bubble gum and gummy bears;
influencer marketing and heavy promotion on social media;
sponsorship of concerts, festivals and sports events, including Formula 1;
aspirational lifestyle branding; and
messaging that encourages discreet use in schools and smoke-free settings.
It urges governments to adopt comprehensive regulations to protect young people, including:
bans or strong restrictions on flavors;
advertising, promotion and sponsorship bans, including on social media and use of influencers;
strong age-verification and retail controls;
clear health warnings and plain packaging;
caps on the amount of nicotine allowed;
taxation to reduce affordability and deter youth use;
surveillance of use patterns and industry tactics; and
strong enforcement of policies.
Last week I wrote on May 13 that “Dr. Makary resigned yesterday under pressure from President Trump, who was unhappy with Dr. Makary’s performance. Tobacco executives had lobbied the president intensely because Makary was not allowing fruity flavors to once again be marketed in the US. But after an RJ Reynolds executive spoke with President Trump in Florida, FDA capitulated, according to Politico, enabling the first fruity flavors to be reinstated since 2019, when adolescent use of flavored vapes peaked.”
It turns out that Altria had a hand in this too. Altria used to be part of Philip Morris Companies, but in 2008 Altria split off from the companies. Altria took over the US market and the new Philip Morris International (PMI) took over the market in the rest of the world but not in the US.
PMI purchased ZENs nicotine pouches from Swedish Match in 2022. It also applied to the FDA and received the first permission to sell 20 of its many-flavored products containing 3 mg or 6 mg of nicotine in the US. As CNBC notes in its article, “Zyn helped Philip Morris International make a US comeback.”
On May 8, seven days after the meeting between tobacco executives and the president at his golf club in Florida, industry got what it wanted. The FDA announced new guidance with respect to flavored vaping and flavored nicotine pouch products. It will no longer “prioritize enforcement policies” on products that do not have FDA premarket authorization, which is another way of saying the tobacco industry won a huge concession from the president.
An astounding article in the New York Times published May 13, the day after Dr. Makary resigned, explains why that happened and sheds more light on the luncheon President Trump had with tobacco executives the first of May. Adding up all the donations made to President Trump’s campaign super PACs, Inauguration, and White House Ballroom shows the tobacco industry contributed an astonishing $25,250,000 to the president’s various interests. Here’s the breakdown:
Reynolds American, $15.5 million;
Altria, $4.5 million;
Philip Morris International, $500,000;
Ballard Partners, which represents Reynolds American, $2.5 million;
Jule, $1 million;
Vapor Technology Association, $1.25 million.
The Times article notes that Jeff Raborn, a top executive at Reynolds American, and Rich Haselwood, Reynold’s former in-house lobbyist who now works for Ballard, became so close to the president that President Trump referred to them as “my tobacco guys.”
