“We have seen a remarkable decline in young adult smoking over the past decade. However, rates among older adults who smoke have remained stagnant,” said Thuy Le, assistant research scientist of health management and policy, who along with David Mendez, professor of health management and policy, and Ken Warner, professor emeritus, of health management and policy, found that quitting smoking after age 65 will add at least eight years of life for nearly 10% of people.

At one time, the FDA’s thinking about menthol e-cigarettes seemed to be “if they’re going to ban menthol in cigarettes, it might be reasonable to have an alternative for those who want to quit smoking.” — CAsToR Principal Investigator Rafael Meza, PhD

Oral nicotine pouches – like Zyn and Velo in the U.S. – appear to be less toxic than cigarettes and deliver comparable levels of nicotine. This makes them an alternative for people who smoke. However, people who’ve never smoked are using them, too, and youth are open to trying them. These are key findings of our recent systematic review, published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research.