New Brunswick faces a healthcare crisis. Hospitals are overcrowded. Wait times are long. Family doctors are scarce. You’d think the New Brunswick government would make it easier, not harder, for adults to choose safer alternatives to smoking.
Yet, when it comes to nicotine pouches, that’s exactly what they’ve done. A well meaning but deeply flawed federal rule, backed by the province, has turned access into an unnecessary obstacle course.
It hits rural New Brunswickers hardest and wastes pharmacists precious time. It’s bureaucratic nonsense that hurts the very people it claims to help.
Nicotine pouches are small, tobacco-free packets. You tuck them between your gum and lip. They give a nicotine hit without smoke, ash, or spitting.
Zonnic nicotine pouches are officially approved by Health Canada as a quitting smoking aid. They’re far less harmful than lighting up a cigarette.
Sounds like a useful tool, right? Especially in a province battling smoking rates and a strained healthcare system.
Here’s the catch.
Health Canada decided these pouches must be sold only behind the counter at pharmacies. They’re classified as a Schedule II product in New Brunswick. That means you can’t just grab a tin. You must have a direct chat with the pharmacist. They must confirm you’re over 19 and likely using the pouches to quit smoking. They might offer brief advice. Only then can you buy the only approved brand Zonnic.
On the surface, it seems sensible. Keep them away from kids. Offer support to quitters. But scratch that surface, and the problems – especially for rural New Brunswick – become glaringly obvious.
First, consider the crushing burden on pharmacies and pharmacists. New Brunswick’s healthcare system is on life support. Pharmacists are increasingly the front line. They give vaccines. They manage chronic diseases. They fill prescriptions for patients who can’t see a doctor. Their time is stretched very thin. Now, we’re forcing them to act as gatekeepers for a product adults should freely access.
Think about it. A smoker walks in. The pharmacist must stop vital clinical work. They must ask, "Are you over 19? Are you using this to quit smoking?" It’s a box ticking exercise and a time consuming hurdle.
It treats adults like children needing permission for a less harmful choice. How many flu shots or diabetes consultations get delayed because a pharmacist is tied up authorizing a Zonnic sale? This isn’t using our health resources wisely. It’s squandering them.
Second, look at rural access or rather, the lack of it. Outside Fredericton, Moncton, or Saint John, the pharmacy landscape changes fast. Many small towns and villages have no pharmacy at all. Others might have one open limited hours – maybe a few mornings a week.
Before this rule, you could find nicotine pouches at local gas stations or corner stores. Convenient. Accessible. Now? Gone. But cigarettes are still easily accessible.
For a smoker in Grand Falls, St. Stephen, or Caraquet trying to quit, the new reality is bleak. Want Zonnic? You might face a 30, 60, or even 90 minute drive each way to the nearest pharmacy. And what if you get there only to find it closed? Or out of stock?
Cigarettes, however, remain readily available at every corner store and gas station along that same route. The message is backwards! Deadly smokes are easy to get and a safer alternative meant to help you quit is locked away.
This isn’t theory. Rural residents report this barrier. Needing pouches to manage cravings and avoid relapse suddenly means planning a half day trip. It’s an absurd burden. It actively discourages quitting attempts. Why jump through hoops when smokes are right there?
Third, the rule fuels a dangerous black market. Faced with limited access, some desperate smokers turn online. Many websites sell pouches. But here’s the danger, countless online products are unapproved by Health Canada. They bypass safety checks. Strengths can be wildly inconsistent. Ingredients might be unknown.
Yet, when legal access is made difficult, the illegal market thrives. The New Brunswick government’s policy pushes people towards potentially risky, unregulated products. It’s the opposite of protecting public health.
Some might argue, "But it’s for cessation! Pharmacists offer support!" Let’s be realistic. The "consultation" is usually brief. It’s about eligibility, not deep counselling. Real cessation support involves dedicated programs – not a rushed chat at the pharmacy counter while others wait.
If the goal is truly to help people quit, dedicate resources to actual cessation services. Don’t misuse pharmacists as low level nicotine enforcers.
The solution is staring us in the face. Look to Sweden. They allow the sale of nicotine pouches in regular stores. Smoking rates there plummeted to the lowest in Europe. Why? Because safer alternatives were accessible. Adults were trusted to make informed choices. We should follow Sweden’s evidence based lead.
New Brunswick needs to push back against this federal overreach. Advocate for common sense. Move nicotine pouches out from behind the pharmacy counter. Allow their sale in licensed, age-gated convenience stores and gas stations, just like cigarettes.
Free up pharmacists to do the critical healthcare work they trained for. Give adults, especially those in underserved rural communities, reasonable access to a less harmful product. Support real cessation programs with proper funding.
Keeping these pouches locked in pharmacies doesn’t protect kids. It protects cigarette sales. It burdens the healthcare system. It abandons rural New Brunswickers trying to make a healthier choice. It’s time for Premier Higgs and Health Minister Bruce Fitch to stand up for practicality and stop this counterproductive policy.
The healthcare system, the pharmacists, and New Brunswickers deserve better.
