Two years after Ottawa restricted legal nicotine pouches to pharmacies, ten-day road trip finds a rampant illegal market.

TORONTO, Aug. 24, 2026 /CNW/ -- After ten days on the road, thousands of kilometres and stops in communities from Montreal to Edmonton, the Rights4Vapers (R4V) team has reached a clear conclusion: restricting legal nicotine pouches to pharmacies has not made the products disappear. It has pushed Canadians toward a thriving illegal market.

In August 2024, the federal government issued a Ministerial Order restricting Canada's only authorized nicotine pouch to pharmacies. The order was intended to protect young people.

Instead, R4V believes it gave the illegal market an enormous competitive advantage.
The order was intended to protect young people. Instead, it made the legal product more difficult for adults to access while giving the illegal market an enormous competitive advantage.

R4V launched the Unlock the Pouch Summer Road Trip on August 12 with an RV, a camera and a small group of safer-nicotine advocates. The goal was simple: leave the policy bubble and see what Canada's nicotine-pouch market looks like on the ground.

"We did not conduct a scientific study. We did something much simpler: we drove across the country and tried to buy the products," said Maria Papaioannoy, spokesperson for Rights4Vapers. "The legal product was difficult to find. The illegal products were everywhere or sold out because people were buying them so quickly. That should concern anyone who cares about consumer safety or youth access."

What the team found was impossible to ignore.

In Ontario, they visited 15 stores. Twelve were selling unlicensed nicotine products. The team purchased 42 illegal products, including pouches ranging from 6 mg to 50 mg, candy-style flavours such as Gummy Bears, Skittles and Cotton Candy, and products carrying labels and warnings in several foreign languages. Illegal pouches and cigarettes were readily available even in remote communities, while pharmacies that carry the one legal nicotine pouch in Canada were much harder to find.

In Manitoba, stores repeatedly said they were sold out of illegal pouches. The supply may have been limited, but the demand clearly was not. Discarded tins of unauthorized products could be seen on Winnipeg streets.

In Saskatchewan, access to illegal pouches appeared selective. A 54-year-old team member was repeatedly told none were available, while a younger-looking videographer bought them from the same stores. Meanwhile, buying legal pouches at a pharmacy required questions about smoking history and cessation, plus a name, date of birth and address.

"The contrast was ridiculous," said Maria Papaioannoy of Rights4Vapers. "Look 25 and want a high-strength illegal pouch? In some stores, no problem. Try to buy the legal, regulated product as an adult? Be prepared to jump through hoops—if you can find a pharmacy that carries it."

Finally in Alberta, we found the same troubling pattern we had seen across the country: unauthorized nicotine pouches including new Canadian brands, were readily available while legal, Health Canada-authorized products remained restricted to pharmacies.

"After two years, the evidence is sitting on store shelves across the country," said Papaioannoy. "The legal product is hidden away in pharmacies while illegal pouches, often stronger, brightly flavoured and completely unregulated are being sold through ordinary retail stores. That is not a policy success."

Illegal sellers do not follow Canadian limits on nicotine strength. They do not restrict flavours. They do not provide consistent health information. In the stores visited by the tour, many did not ask for proof of age.

Rights4Vapers is calling on the federal government to reverse the Ministerial Order and allow regulated nicotine pouches to be sold through responsible, age-gated retailers.

"Adults who smoke deserve reasonable access to legal, regulated alternatives," said Papaioannoy. "Protecting youth and supporting adult harm reduction are not opposing goals. Good regulation can do both. What we have now is not working."

Canadians can learn more, watch the road-trip diaries and send a letter to the federal government at www.unlockthepouch.ca and www.rights4vapers.com 

SOURCE Rights 4 Vapers