In Denmark, nicotine pouches are very popular with young people. Actually, you push the pouch under your upper lip. But more and more people seem to be experimenting with it and sticking the bags into other body orifices. That worries experts.
They are very popular with young Danes: small nicotine pouches. These are actually tucked under the upper lip, where the nicotine spreads through the mucous membranes in the body. Actually. More and more of the nicotine bag consumers: inside these seem to be stuck in other body orifices – for example in the buttocks, in the vagina or under the foreskin of the penis. This is reported by the Danish public service broadcaster (DR).
The sachets are also known colloquially as “white snus”. Snus is also oral tobacco, which is often sold in sachets. The difference, however, is that snus contains powdered tobacco. The nicotine bags, on the other hand, do not contain tobacco, but mainly starch, plant fibers, aromas and nicotine and should not be carcinogenic, but highly addictive, he writes. With the exception of Sweden, the sale of snus is prohibited in the. Nicotine pouches, however, are legal in Denmark.
Health experts and authorities would know about the misuse of the nicotine pouches, according to DR.
Nicotine pouches can damage mucous membranes
“Some of it can be part of a party culture. The young people are ready to take risks and may also have to challenge each other. But it is certainly also because someone wants to hide the fact that they have become addicted and don’t want their parents discover it, “says health advisor Rikke Højland to the broadcaster about the new type of consumption. She considers the “creative use” to be worrying.
Not only in the mouth are there mucous membranes through which nicotine can be absorbed into the body. There are also mucous membranes in the vagina and anus.
“There is a slight difference in how it works when it comes to nicotine intake,” says Højland. You want to absorb nicotine, but probably not quite as much as you would through your mouth. Using nicotine pouches in the mouth can damage the gums. If they are used elsewhere on the body, similar injuries cannot be ruled out, says the health advisor.
“We see these gum lesions in the mouth, and the lining of the genitals is vulnerable too, so it can damage the skin,” she says.
User warns: “Stay away from it”
Another health advisor, Charlotte Rømer, reports a case that was reported to her by a student. He and friends put nicotine bags under the foreskin of the penis. “You got drunk and someone forgot to take the bag out again. The next morning he woke up and his penis was red and really swollen and hurt. So it was the first and last time he tried it,” said Romer.
19-year-old Victor Flensborg Buus also tucked a nicotine packet under his foreskin, as he says: “I tried it, just to try it. I won’t do it again. It just wasn’t nice. It is at all nothing I would recommend to others. Stay away from it. “
Government wants to increase the price of nicotine sachets
Health experts are also concerned about possible addiction to nicotine. , Professor of Tobacco Prevention at the University of Copenhagen, therefore calls for access to nicotine bags to be made more difficult. “You do a lot of stupid things when you’re young and you can get away with them most of the time. The problem with this is that we’re dealing with an extremely addicting product, so the consequences can affect the rest of your life. “
See in the video: How dangerous it really is to smoke hookah.
Denmark’s government has already reacted and wants it. According to the government, a can of nicotine bags with 20 pieces will cost eleven kroner more, just under 1.50 euros. “I clearly hope that fewer people will use the nicotine pouches as a result. It is not good for their health, so I would urge you to stay away from them,” says Tax Minister Morten Bødskov.
