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How do nicotine pouches differ from vapes?

Written by
SmokeLess Team
Updated
Reading time
5 minutes
Sources
4 primary sources

Short answer

A vape heats a liquid to produce an aerosol the user draws into their lungs, and the category has been banned in Vietnam since 1 January 2025. A nicotine pouch does not burn, is not heated, produces no vapour or smoke, and there is nothing to inhale. Their legal positions also differ.

Key points

  • A vape produces an aerosol drawn into the lungs.
  • A pouch does not burn or heat and there is nothing to inhale.
  • Vapes have been banned in Vietnam since 1 January 2025.
  • Pouches are not named in Resolution 173/2024/QH15.

The mechanism

A vape. A device that heats a nicotine-containing liquid to produce an aerosol. The user draws that aerosol into their lungs.

A nicotine pouch. A paper sachet placed under the upper lip. No heat source, no combustion, no aerosol. Nothing enters the lungs.

What is released into the air

A vape produces an aerosol, and part of it goes into the surrounding air.

A pouch produces no smoke and no vapour, so nothing is released. The person sitting next to you inhales nothing from it.

That is the only claim we make in this comparison, and it is a claim about physics rather than health.

Vapes. Production, trade, import, storage, transport and use prohibited from 1 January 2025 under Resolution 173/2024/QH15.

Nicotine pouches. Not named in that resolution, and not named in the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms (2012). Not being named is not the same as being permitted. Report 211/BC-BYT proposes extending the prohibition.

What they have in common

Both deliver nicotine, and nicotine is addictive in every form. Neither is licensed as smoking cessation medicine.

If you want to stop using nicotine altogether, the quitline is 1800 6606, free, 08:00 to 22:00 daily.

Common questions

Which one is less harmful?
We do not make harm comparisons. There is no long-term data for nicotine pouches, and such a comparison would be a health claim we have no basis to make. Stopping nicotine altogether remains the best outcome.
Does the person next to you breathe anything?
A vape releases aerosol into the air. A pouch produces no smoke and no vapour, so nothing is released. That is a claim about the physics of combustion, not about health.

Sources for this article

  • Resolution 173/2024/QH15National Assembly of Vietnam
  • Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms (2012)National Assembly of Vietnam
  • Report 211/BC-BYTMinistry of Health, Vietnam
  • Are nicotine pouches safe?Cleveland Clinic