Despite the harm, young people are using nicotine pouches. Experts say it's giving them déjà vu

Read transcribed audio.

They come in brightly-coloured tins with flavours like tropic breeze and berry frost, and in most of the country, they're sold at convenience stores. If you don't look closely, you might mistake them for gum or candy. 

Nicotine pouches, under the brand Zonnic, are the latest nicotine product to be approved for sale in Canada. Earlier in March, Health Minister Mark Holland vowed to crack down on their sale to young people. 

Despite the product's claim that it's a nicotine replacement therapy and not intended for those under 18, experts say youth are fast becoming their main market — and that raises troubling questions about how young people's health could be affected.

Health Canada approved Zonnic last July as a smoking cessation aid under the country's natural health product regulations, with no restrictions on how it's advertised, where it's sold, or at what age someone can buy it.

"If they could reach the counter, a toddler could wander in and buy some," said David Hammond, a public health professor at the University of Waterloo who researches tobacco control. 

The pouches can cause a host of health problems for young people, experts say, and the current lack of regulations is creating a sense of déjà vu for those who study tobacco control, including Laura Struik, an assistant professor in the school of nursing at UBC Okanagan.  

"The tobacco industry is very good at releasing kid-friendly, nicotine-based cessation products — and these nicotine pouches are no exception," said Struik. 

Quebec and B.C. have changed the regulations so nicotine pouches can only be sold behind the counter at pharmacies, and Health Canada has announced it will explore regulatory options to protect youth. 

Zonnic pouches — small bags filled with nicotine powder that users place against their gums — contain up to four milligrams of nicotine. 

They're often sold 10 to a package, which is roughly the amount of nicotine in a pack of cigarettes, Dr. Nicholas Chadi told Dr. Brian Goldman, host of CBC's The Dose.

"You can become addicted to nicotine after only a few days or weeks of use if you're a young person," said Chadi, a pediatrician and researcher at CHU Sainte-Justine hospital in Montreal who specializes in adolescent and addiction medicine. 

"Your brain is a little bit more vulnerable to the effects of different substances."

There is more and more research into how nicotine affects the developing brain, said Chadi, which includes impacts on memorization, emotional regulation and sleep.