Nicotine & Tobacco
Combustible tobacco, vaping, smokeless products, and pouches. Still the deadliest legal drug.
Latest reporting
Nicotine Pouches Didn't Slip Past Public Health. They Got Rebranded as Self-Optimization
Nicotine pouch shipments grew 37% in a year almost entirely outside the frame most youth-prevention conversations are still having. Here's how gym-bro TikTok culture, not tobacco advertising, built that growth.
The FDA Killed Flavored Vapes and Approved Flavored Nicotine Pouches in the Same Six Weeks. Nicotine Didn't Get Safer. The Delivery Device Did.
The Fifth Circuit upheld the FDA's denial of flavored e-cigarette applications on June 25. Five days earlier, the FDA cleared flavored Zyn nicotine pouches for modified-risk marketing. Here's why the same agency reached opposite conclusions about flavor and youth risk in the same month.
The FDA Told Vape Makers It Won't Enforce Its Own Rule. Now It's Being Sued For That.
Public health groups sued the FDA on July 14 over a guidance letting unauthorized flavored e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches stay on the market indefinitely while applications are 'under review.'
Through eight lenses
Science
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist; heterogeneous subtype effects.
The FDA Killed Flavored Vapes and Approved Flavored Nicotine Pouches in the Same Six Weeks. Nicotine Didn't Get Safer. The Delivery Device Did.
Jul 17Three Days Away: The FDA Is About to Rule on the First New Quit-Smoking Drug in 20 Years
Jun 17Cytisinicline Has 13 Days. So Does the Generation That Started Vaping in Eighth Grade.
Jun 7
Biology
Acute cardiovascular effects, chronic cardiovascular + cancer risk from combustion (not primarily nicotine), EVALI and vaping-associated lung injury history, nicotine-only harm profile.
Psychology
Rapid dependence, highest relapse rates of any SUD.
Policy
FDA CTP, T21, flavor bans, SynZonic/Zyn scrutiny.
The FDA Killed Flavored Vapes and Approved Flavored Nicotine Pouches in the Same Six Weeks. Nicotine Didn't Get Safer. The Delivery Device Did.
Jul 17The FDA Told Vape Makers It Won't Enforce Its Own Rule. Now It's Being Sued For That.
Jul 15The FDA Just Told Smokers a Nicotine Pouch Is Safer. Nobody Told the 13-Year-Old Buying the Same Can.
Jul 8
Trends
Youth vaping declining overall, pouches rising fast, combustibles at historic lows.
Nicotine Pouches Didn't Slip Past Public Health. They Got Rebranded as Self-Optimization
Jul 27The FDA Killed Flavored Vapes and Approved Flavored Nicotine Pouches in the Same Six Weeks. Nicotine Didn't Get Safer. The Delivery Device Did.
Jul 17The FDA Just Let ZYN Say It's the Safer Choice. Teenagers Already Decided That.
Jul 4
Treatment
FDA-approved — varenicline, bupropion, NRT (patch/gum/lozenge/inhaler/nasal spray).
Harm Reduction
Step-down, combination NRT, vape-to-quit (controversial but supported by some evidence).
The FDA Told Vape Makers It Won't Enforce Its Own Rule. Now It's Being Sued For That.
Jul 15The FDA Just Told Smokers a Nicotine Pouch Is Safer. Nobody Told the 13-Year-Old Buying the Same Can.
Jul 8The FDA Just Let ZYN Say It's Safer Than Cigarettes. The Brain Circuit That Makes That Technically True Is Also Why Quitting Nicotine Pouches Is Its Own Fight.
Jul 7