By restricting their sale to pharmacies only, federal regulations have created an unnecessary barrier for those seeking to reduce the risks associated with smoking or to quit altogether. This decision does not reflect real consumer behaviour: smokers and former smokers look for alternatives where they already buy their cigarettes—namely in convenience stores, tobacconists, and other neighbourhood retailers.

​

Removing nicotine pouches from these points of sale reduces spontaneous trials, slows adoption, and undermines the effectiveness of cessation tools. Numerous harm-reduction experts confirm that practical accessibility is a key factor in successfully quitting smoking.

​

This restriction also fuels a misleading perception of nicotine pouches, now associated with a strictly “medicalized” use, even though they are a non-therapeutic alternative designed to reduce the harms linked to tobacco. This confusion diminishes their visibility, appeal, and public-health impact.

​

I Want My Pouches advocates for the modernization of federal rules to restore over-the-counter sales of nicotine pouches in local retail outlets. Our objective is simple: to give adult consumers coherent access to harm-reduction options and to tangibly support efforts to reduce smoking in Canada.