Step back in the fight against smoking. This is the comment by MOHRE, the Mediterranean observatory for correct information on health strategies in the field of risk reduction, on the decision of the Federal Government of Belgium to ban nicotine sachets – the so-called oral pouches – considered an alternative approach to consumption of traditional cigarettes and useful to get away from burning and related damage.
In an open letter to the Belgian Ministry of Health, MOHRE experts explain that smokeless nicotine products have enormous potential to reduce the consumption of classic cigarettes, thus protecting public health. Nicotine pouches contain no tobacco and there is no combustion (believed to cause most tobacco-associated harm) when used. Nicotine, on the other hand, has been available for years in authorized medicines for replacement therapy.
“We believe this will be a setback for smokers who are looking for a viable alternative to cigarettes but who may not be able to stop using nicotine completely, and will now make it more difficult for Belgium to achieve its smoke-free goal, which we fully approve,” says Fabio Beatrice, Director of the MOHRE Scientific Board.
While the harm reduction approach has been blatantly ignored by the European Cancer Plan, medical institutions around the world see it as a strategic opportunity. Despite being responsible for maintaining addiction, nicotine is not carcinogenic: the International Agency for Research on Cancer states: «Nicotine does not cause cancer, it is a common chemical compound found in tobacco plants, and its effect is to create addiction to tobacco rather than directly causing tumors.
In many EU countries, governments have regulated rather than banned nicotine sachets and have introduced provisions to control how the products are displayed and sold to prevent underage access. According to the MOHRE «Banning them completely, as Belgium now intends to do, means that smokers will have fewer options to help them stop using combustion cigarettes»