{"id":510893,"date":"2026-03-03T04:55:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T04:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/510893\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T04:55:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T04:55:18","slug":"good-health-policy-albertas-calls-on-ottawa-to-relax-nicotine-pouch-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/510893\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Good health policy\u2019: Alberta\u2019s calls on Ottawa to relax nicotine pouch rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is calling on Ottawa to walk back its restrictions on nicotine pouches<\/a>, arguing the rules are an unnecessary barrier for those trying to quit smoking while inadvertently making it easier for youth to access.<\/p>\n

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Federal rules dictate the pouches \u2014 small tobacco-free bags containing nicotine that are placed between the lip and gum \u2014 can only be sold behind the counter at pharmacies.<\/p>\n

Only one brand, Zonnic<\/a>, has been authorized for sale by Health Canada.<\/p>\n

In a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, Smith and Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally say the restrictions are a form of \u201cregulatory inconsistency\u201d and could be causing more harm than they\u2019re preventing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a regulated alternative is more difficult to access than cigarettes, it sends the wrong signal and complicates efforts by adults working to lessen their dependence,\u201d says the letter shared on social media Monday.<\/p>\n

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It says regular retail stores already sell age-restricted nicotine products and should be allowed to sell the pouches as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf retailers can responsibly manage the sale of other nicotine products, why do nicotine pouches require a more restrictive sales model?\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith, at an unrelated health announcement Monday, said Alberta is proposing to fix a \u201cweird situation\u201d where cigarettes and smoking cessation products aren\u2019t sold at the same place.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just think it\u2019s good health policy to make smoking cessation products more available as opposed to less available,\u201d she told reporters at a Lethbridge hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been pretty successful at persuading (Ottawa) on a number of issues, and that\u2019s the process that we\u2019re going through right now \u2026 to see if we can come to a meeting of the minds on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCanada limits sale of nicotine pouches to pharmacies\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

In the letter, Smith and Nally say federal policy appears to have coincided with growth on the illicit black market, where unregulated pouches are widely available online with no age restrictions.<\/p>\n

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It says this unregulated market may actually be increasing youth exposure to pouches, which Ottawa aimed to prevent when it introduced the regulations in 2024.<\/p>\n

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An impact assessment done as part of the regulations says Ottawa was concerned pouches and other types of smoking cessation aids were creating new nicotine users, especially among youth.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the past decade, the ways in which (nicotine pouches and other nicotine replacement therapies) are marketed and sold have become increasingly similar to tobacco and vaping products,\u201d the assessment says.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsidering these risk factors together, a tailored regulatory approach focusing on (orally administered nicotine replacement therapies) is necessary to reduce the appeal of, access to, and use of these products by young people.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The assessment says that at the time there was a growing popularity for pouches in the United States and the popularity had made its way north.<\/p>\n

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It cites a study that found Canadian youth were more aware of one particular U.S. brand, Zyn, than they were of the Health Canada-approved option.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tContainers of Zyn, a smokeless nicotine pouch, are displayed for sale among other nicotine and tobacco products at a newsstand on Feb. 23, 2024, in New York.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAP Photo\/Bebeto Matthews, File\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cParticipants highlighted that they primarily heard about nicotine pouches through their friends and social media influencers,\u201d the assessment reads.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome groups identified various athletes as people in the public eye who endorsed or posted online about nicotine pouches, endorsing their use as a focus and energy aid.\u201d<\/p>\n

The assessment says Ottawa needed to find a balance between maintaining access to pouches for those using them to quit smoking while also limiting access and appeal to youth.<\/p>\n

Federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel\u2019s office wasn\u2019t immediately able to comment on the Alberta letter.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t&copy 2026 The Canadian Press\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is calling on Ottawa to walk back its restrictions on nicotine pouches, arguing the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":510894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,1849,84,56113,189453,20739,56115,202999],"class_list":["post-510893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-consumer","tag-health","tag-nicotine","tag-nicotine-pouches","tag-ottawa","tag-smoking-cessation","tag-zonnic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/510894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}