Major new research by international health experts shows that oral nicotine pouches could play a decisive role in easing the smoking crisis that is killing 173 Mexicans every day.
A report by Smoke Free Sweden reveals that Mexican smokers who use nicotine pouches are substantially reducing their cigarette consumption, while strong public support exists for regulating the products rather than banning them.
Power in a Pouch: Mexico – The Road to a Healthier, Smoke-Free Future comes as Mexico struggles to reduce a smoking rate of 17.3%, with more than 63,000 deaths attributed to smoking each year.
Almost three-quarters of smokers want to quit and more than half made an attempt in the past year, highlighting the gap between the desire to stop smoking and access to effective support.
Quitting success
The report analyses a nationwide survey of 1,024 Mexican cigarette and nicotine-product users conducted in July 2026.
Among nicotine pouch users, 77% said they now smoke fewer cigarettes, including 6% who have stopped smoking altogether. Average cigarette consumption among smokers using pouches fell from 10 to five cigarettes a day.
Co-author Dr Alan Kleiman Zisman said the findings provided important real-world evidence of the potential role of nicotine pouches within a broader strategy to reduce terrible toll of smoking.
“The fundamental scientific distinction should be between nicotine and combustion,” he said. “Nicotine is addictive and is not risk-free, but the overwhelming burden of smoking-related disease is caused by inhaling the toxic products of combustion.
“Nicotine pouches eliminate smoke, tar and carbon monoxide. For adults who would otherwise continue smoking, switching completely to a non-combustible product therefore has the potential to substantially reduce exposure to the toxicants responsible for smoking-related disease.
“These Mexican data are particularly encouraging because we are seeing behavioural change in the direction public health should want: fewer cigarettes being smoked and some smokers stopping completely.
“They should be viewed alongside, not instead of, stronger cessation services including professional counselling and pharmacological treatment.”
The research also highlights what motivates smokers to use nicotine pouches. Only 28% of respondents considered them very or extremely harmful, compared with 59% for cigarettes, 52% for vapes and 44% for heated tobacco products.
Yet one-third of respondents had never even heard of nicotine pouches, suggesting their potential remains largely untapped.
Regulation beats prohibition
Survey respondents also strongly favoured regulation over prohibition.
Seventy-one per cent support allowing pouches subject to age restrictions, product standards and labelling requirements.
Opposition to a ban, at 47%, is almost twice the 24% who support one.
The consequences of prohibition could be serious. Almost half of respondents believe a ban would push nicotine users back towards cigarettes, while 35% say it would encourage illicit trade. Among current pouch users, 32% say they would return to smoking or smoke more if pouches were banned.
Report co-author and Smoke Free Sweden leader Dr Delon Human said: “This research sets out the choice facing Mexican policymakers. They can repeat the mistake of shutting smokers off from safer alternatives, or they can follow the evidence and give adults more credible routes away from cigarettes.
“Protect young people through strict age limits, enforce high product standards and invest in effective cessation support. But do not make cigarettes easier to obtain than the alternatives that could help smokers leave them behind.
“With 173 Mexicans dying from smoking every day, regulation must be driven by relative risk and public health outcomes, not by treating every nicotine product as though it were equally harmful.”
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