IN the name of smoking cessation, there has been not only a significant increase in persuasive advertisements, but also in attempts to present nicotine pouches as a healthy and environment-friendly alternative to smoking. These insensible advertisements, also featuring popular actors in vibrant party scenes, glamorise nicotine pouches with descriptions, such as ‘tasty’, ‘long-lasting’, and ‘better’, as if using them will make people happier and cooler than the rest.

On the other hand, the advertisers are simply misleading the consumers. As such, a number of studies have shown that nicotine pouches can lead to severe addiction, narrowing of blood vessels, as well as increased blood pressure. Other possible health complications include oral health problems, respiratory conditions, cardiovascular problems and cognitive impairment.

Although nicotine pouches may contain fewer harmful chemicals than cigarettes, this does not mean they are harmless. Like cigarettes and other tobacco products, they can kill. As reported by the World Health Organisation (WHO), nicotine addiction causes more than eight million deaths worldwide every year. Just imagine the terrible effect these misleading advertisements can have on children and teenagers.

However, in Pakistan, where laws on the purchase of nicotine pouches and tobacco products are lax, children and young adults, lured by these so-called adver- tisements, can easily purchase nicotine pouches. In doing so, they actually take ­— even if unknowingly — their first step towards addiction.

Unsurprisingly, I was alerted to the impact of such advertising when my eight-year-old cousin saw plenty of these advertisements while watching a cricket match, and curiously asked me if I had ever tried these flavoured nicotine pouches. How nice it would be to come across as a ‘cool’ person in front of the peers, he remarked with a wink in his eyes.

It is high time the federal government recognised the seriousness of the problem and took immediate action to regulate these advertisements. Uninterrupted exposure to such adverse advertisements will undoubtedly leave younger people vulnerable. As such, allowing such adver- tisements to air without any restriction not only undermines public health efforts, but also puts our younger ones at risk.

Arsalan Ali Rao
Karachi

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2024