Cabinet has backed further work on tobacco and nicotine regulation, following its agreement in principle in March 2024 to legalise oral nicotine products. However, commercial pouch sales remain banned, and the latest proposals don’t set a date for shop sales to begin.
A briefing published on 5 November by the Public Health Communication Centre (PHCC) calls for the next government to suspend or abandon the process until there is clear evidence of an overall public health benefit.
The dispute comes as New Zealand research shows some smokers are already using pouches to try to quit, despite restrictions on their sale.
Rules based on risk
Associate Health Minister Casey Costello’s Cabinet paper puts the proposed changes within a wider effort to curb illicit tobacco and reduce smoking.
It proposes regulating products according to their relative risks, alongside stronger market oversight and enforcement. Further work would consider licensing, consumer protections and controls to prevent young people accessing products.
The paper argues that access to lower-risk alternatives has contributed to New Zealand’s falling smoking rates. It also warns that cheap illegal cigarettes can weaken smokers’ incentive to quit or switch. Recommendations on the broader reforms are due back to Cabinet by July 2027.
What would change for consumers?
Nicotine pouches sit between the lip and gum, releasing nicotine through the lining of the mouth. They contain no tobacco leaf and require no burning. Snus, which is used in a similar way, contains tobacco.
The difference affects how harmful the products may be. In New Zealand, the rules also depend on whether the nicotine comes from tobacco or is made in a laboratory.
Under current Ministry of Health guidance, people can import tobacco-derived oral nicotine products for their own use. Importing them for retail sale or distribution requires approval as a medicine.
Synthetic nicotine products face different restrictions. Personal imports are permitted only under specified therapeutic-use conditions, while commercial supply requires the relevant approval.
Legalisation would therefore create a route towards a regulated domestic market for products that consumers currently cannot simply buy lawfully over the counter.
Researchers call for a rethink
The PHCC briefing, written by Calvin Cochran, Lucy Hardie, Emma Shields and Nick Wilson, argues that allowing commercial sales could encourage nicotine dependence among young people and people who do not smoke.
The authors say earlier Ministry of Health warnings about youth uptake and dependence were not included in the latest Cabinet paper. They also question whether making additional nicotine products available would reduce the illicit cigarette trade.
Their concerns extend to people using pouches alongside cigarettes, rather than replacing smoking completely.
They call for the next government to assess the potential benefits and harms before proceeding. If reform is abandoned, they suggest stronger enforcement against illegal sales and consideration of restrictions on personal imports.
The government’s stated approach is to develop a “risk proportionate regulatory regime for tobacco and nicotine products to keep the market legal”.
What does the evidence say about harm?
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already concluded that certain nicotine pouches can offer a public health benefit.
In January 2025, the regulator authorised the marketing of 20 ZYN products, following a scientific review of their risks and potential benefits.
It found that the authorised products contained substantially lower levels of harmful substances than cigarettes and most smokeless tobacco products, including snus. This meant a lower risk of cancer and other serious health conditions.
The FDA also considered evidence that a substantial proportion of adults using cigarettes or smokeless tobacco switched completely to the pouches. The authorisations included advertising restrictions aimed at limiting youth exposure.
Smokers are already trying pouches
New Zealand research published in October found reported current pouch use rose from one per cent in a 2025 survey to 14 per cent in 2026.
The surveys involved 298 and 519 adults respectively, all of whom smoked at least monthly.
Among the 75 current pouch users in 2026, 21 per cent reported using them as a step towards becoming smoke-free, while 20 per cent cited becoming nicotine-free. Another 19 per cent used them to replace some cigarettes without giving up smoking completely.
Despite the sales restrictions, 68 per cent said they had bought pouches from a New Zealand convenience shop, petrol station, vape shop or tobacco store.
Experiences varied, as among former pouch users in 2026, 45 per cent said they had not found them satisfying enough, while 24 per cent said they had not helped them quit smoking.
More evidence needed on quitting
A Cochrane review published in October 2025 found four studies involving 284 smokers, with the longest lasting eight weeks.
The evidence was insufficient to establish whether pouches helped more people quit than minimal support or continuing to smoke as usual. Three studies reporting serious adverse events recorded none, although their small size and short duration limited what could be concluded.
One study found lower exposure to a tobacco-related carcinogen among pouch users than among people receiving no specific treatment to quit. Another found lower carbon monoxide exposure than in people who continued smoking.
Those findings support further investigation of pouches as an alternative to cigarettes.