Bolsitas de nicotina oral: adicción con un empaque nuevo
¿Cuándo se hicieron tan populares las bolsitas de nicotina oral?
Aunque las bolsitas de nicotina oral fueron lanzadas durante la década de 2010, fue solo hasta el 2020 cuando despegaron. Las ventas de las bolsitas de nicotina oral se han disparado en años recientes, con un aumento del 541% entre 2019 y 2022, y Zyn de PMI sumando la cuota más grande del mercado.19
¿La comercialización de las bolsitas de nicotina oral se dirige a los niños?
Sabemos que la Industria del Tabaco no puede sobrevivir sin hacer adictos a los jóvenes.10 ¿Por qué? La industria sabe que la gente joven es la más vulnerable a la adicción.47 Llevamos mucho tiempo viéndolo con los cigarrillos y más recientemente con los vapes. Casi 9 de cada 10 adultos que fuman comenzaron cuando eran niños; solo el 5% de los adultos fumadores comenzaron después de los 24 años de edad.2449
El modelo de negocios de la Industria del Tabaco, expuesto en un reporte de R.J. Reynolds de los años 80, usa a los niños como “fumadores de reemplazo” para los cientos de miles de clientes que mueren año tras año a consecuencia de sus productos peligrosos.1050
Actualmente, las redes sociales de la gente joven están siendo inundadas con contenido de Zyn publicado por “influencers” populares, como el “podcaster” Joe Rogan y el grupo de bromistas en YouTube, los Nelk Boys, incluso por Tucker Carlson, quien fue conductor de Fox News.1351 Con frecuencia, los “influencers” comparten su entusiasmo por las bolsitas de nicotina oral haciendo escenas o sketches llamativos, como entregarle una lata gigante de Zyn a Tucker Carlson desde un helicóptero o dramatizando el actuar de un estudiante de 6° grado que necesita la sacudida que le da una bolsita de nicotina oral para mejorar su desempeño en un concurso de ortografía.13
Las bolsitas de nicotina oral son nuevas, pero mentir es el truco más viejo de la Industria del Tabaco
Durante décadas, la guía de procedimientos de la Industria del Tabaco ha sido comercializar las “innovaciones” de sus productos nuevos como menos dañinos como táctica para enganchar a usuarios nuevos.
Por ejemplo, la Industria del Tabaco introdujo los cigarrillos con “filtro” en los años 50 como una estrategia de comercialización para convencer a los consumidores de que podían minimizar los efectos negativos para la salud de fumar, a pesar de que la industria sabía que los “filtros” no tenían tal capacidad.54 Fue el engaño de los filtros de la Industria del Tabaco.
Por lo general, se cree que el tabaco que no se fuma, como el tabaco para mascar y el snus, es más seguro que los cigarrillos ya que no incluye la inhalación de humo. Pero según la American Cancer Society, no hay ninguna forma de tabaco que no se fuma que sea una alternativa segura para los cigarrillos.39 Y contrario al compromiso de la Industria del Tabaco con crear “un mundo libre de humo”, el tabaco que no se fuma se comercializa como una alternativa para su uso en los lugares donde la gente no puede fumar. Esto promueve un fenómeno llamado “uso dual” o “poli-uso”, que significa que se usan múltiples productos. Entonces, en vez de reducir el daño dejando los cigarrillos por completo, la Industria del Tabaco promueve un daño aún mayor con el uso de múltiples productos en diferentes espacios, maximizando así la adicción y sus ganancias.5556
Los vapes son otro producto que la Industria del Tabaco ha utilizado para enganchar a una nueva generación al tabaco y también forman parte de la hipocresía de la reinvención de la Industria del Tabaco.
En última instancia, ya que las bolsitas de nicotina son un producto relativamente nuevo, todavía hace falta hacer investigación sobre los impactos para la salud asociados a corto y a largo plazo. Entretanto, toma en cuenta las palabras de un experto, el Dr. Michael Ong un médico internista general en activo, profesor de UCLA y presidente del comité Tobacco Education and Research Oversight Committee, quien le dijo a Yahoo! News: “Aunque estos productos no contengan tabaco, la nicotina daña la salud y el perfil de seguridad para los productos más nuevos, como este, no ha sido bien evaluado”.57
“Aunque estos productos no contengan tabaco, la nicotina daña la salud y el perfil de seguridad para los productos más nuevos, como este, no ha sido bien evaluado”.
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