History of the day | July 23, 2025
A mother launches the alert against the “Logins”, these concentrates of nicotine
Worried about the consumption of her children, a French -speaking mother warns against the “wgower”. They also worry about health pros.
Small sachets, which arise in colorful boxes, are particularly attractive for young people.
Vincent Lescaut/The essentials
- The use of nicotine sachets worried by parents.
- These “wicked” cause high nicotine peaks.
- Prevention circles warn against their addictive potential.
- European associations denounce the aggressive marketing of manufacturers towards young people.
Do you know the “Lowns”? These nicotine sachets (called in English nicotine pouches), often flavored, are placed between the gum and the lip. Louise*, mother of three young adults, discovered them by her children and their friends, aged 15 to 25.
She sounds the alarm: “When my son told me that he was taking it, I thought it was a bit like chewing gums and that a sachet per day would not be too serious. But I understood that we were talking more about three to six sachets a day. ”
The French -speaking mother found that consumers had extreme fatigue and digestive disorders, up to significant weight loss. “Parents should think about it if their children have such difficulties. As they are odorless, these products go quite unnoticed. And adults do not know what quantities are taken. ”
Luciano Ruggia, Director of the Swiss Association for the Prevention of Tabgism (AT), is not expressed on special cases. But he confirms that oral health and stomach can be affected. And if we lack perspective to speak of a possible link with the cancers of the mouth or the cardiovascular risks, it advocates the precautionary principle.
An important addiction
In France, ANSES (National Agency for Food, Environmental and Work Safety) has also pointed out cases of cases of acute nicotine syndromes in teens. This strong nicotine load is the main problem. These products do not contain tobacco, unlike the SNU with which they are generally associated. They do not require combustion – which preserves the lungs. But according to the French site free tobacco generation, some deliver up to 50 milligrams nicotine by sachet.
What does this represent? “Studies show that there are about one milligram of nicotine when you smoke a cigarette,” replies Luc Lebon, head of the prevention of smoking in the United States. If the real absorption by the body can vary depending on the consumption mode, the dosage of nicotine sachets is higher than that of cigarettes, “which makes them very addictive products”. And the Swiss law does not fix any maximum quantity of nicotine in these products, unlike cigarettes (1 mg/cigarette) and electronic cigarettes (20 mg/milliliter).
Luc Lebon, head of the prevention of smoking in the unisance.
DR
Luciano Ruggia abounds in the same direction. Nicotine in high doses can cause problems of attention, concentration, nervousness or aggressiveness. This psychoactive substance would also have a particular effect on developing brain, with a higher risk of developing dependence before 25 years.
The director of AT Swiss specifies that the nicotine substitutes (like the Nicorette) sold in pharmacies do not have the same effect on the body, because they deliver lower doses of nicotine and do it over time. He especially calls to distinguish the use that an adult can make it who try to abandon cigarettes from that of teenagers.
“Among young people, we do not see any transfer from one product to the other. On the contrary, we are witnessing multiconsumption problems, with the use of one or the other product according to the social situation or the moment of the day. ”
Nicotine discreetly
The cover is for example a discreet solution during sport or in class. “It makes it possible to consume nicotine where it was not possible until then,” explains Luciano Ruggia. But at other times, these young people will consume disposable electronic cigarettes or conventional cigarettes. It is the opposite of the judgment or a risk reduction policy! ”
In a survey by the British Foundation Daniel Spargo-Mabbs (DSM, prevention of drug addiction) among 2100 adolescents from 15 to 18 years old, 46% of them identify the nicotine sachets (Snus included) as One of the most used products by their peers. They place themselves in fifth position behind vaping, alcohol, cigarettes and cannabis or grass.
Under these conditions, prevention environments are mobilized. In a tribune Published in “Le Monde” on July 2, representatives of ten European associations for the fight against smoking (of which at Switzerland) denounce the use of new products by cigarettes to reconstruct their customers, like these sachets.
Calls to prohibit the “Logues”
These organizations criticize producers an aggressive marketing towards young people and to use “a speech close to that of a public health player, presenting these new products as tools for exit smoking even though this market remains the main source of income for cigarettes”.
In this regard, Luc Lebon notes that nicotine sachets are notably promoted on social networks, in free newspapers or during music festivals.
In their column, associations judge that it is “urgent to prohibit these new products as quickly as possible, in particular nicotine sachets”. They deplore that the desire to act of certain States of the European Union is delayed by the resistance of other members.
What about Switzerland? Nicotine oral use products (the “pacnops” and the snus) fall under the blow of The Law on Tobacco Productsentered into force on 1is October 2024. Their sale is prohibited for minors. Many young people nevertheless manage to get it, without forgetting the Purchases made on the Internet.
The Swiss association for the prevention of smoking reflects on the possibility of requiring an outright ban. Luc Lebon, however, brings a nuance: “If there is sense to align with more advanced neighboring countries, we must not forget the SNU, which has been prohibited in the European Union (with the exception of Sweden) for thirty years and which is probably more harmful than nicotine sachets.”
British American Tobacco, who markets one of these products, replies that they are intended only for adults. “Our vision is to build a smokeless world, in which the smokers of traditional cigarettes who do not wish to stop with their consumption of nicotine have turned to smoke -free alternatives,” says the company.
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