Nicotine Pouches on Shabbos

Question

I am a cigarette addict, and it is very hard for me to go through Shabbos without smoking. Although I certainly have no intention to smoke on Shabbos, I have always been looking for a kosher substitute. Recently, I discovered nicotine pouches, which are paper sacks filled with nicotine that one places in his mouth and the nicotine gets absorbed into one’s system. These nicotine pouches really help me on Shabbos, and I would like to use them regularly.

However, it seems to me that there may be an issue using them on Shabbos. After about an hour in the mouth, these pouches get bent or folded and need to be flattened out and repositioned in the mouth. When I take them out of my mouth, I notice that they are covered with saliva and are bumpy. When I flatten them out, the powder inside seems to be slightly smoothed out and saliva comes out of them. This got me thinking that maybe using these pouches on Shabbos presents an issue of meleches memacheik and meleches sechitah. Can the rov please clarify this for me?

Rav Auerbach 

After examining one of the pouches, I believe that there are a number of reasons why these pouches are permitted.

First, the saliva is not absorbed into the pouch. Rather, it is sitting on the surface. Second, even if it were absorbed, the saliva is not a mashkeh choshuv, an important beverage, and therefore, squeezing the liquid out of them cannot be considered meleches sechitah. Third, these pouches are made of paper. Fourth, from the way these pouches appear, I do not think that the nicotine inside them is smoothed out in a way that would present an issue of meleches memacheik. It seems to me that the pouches simply get out of shape in your mouth, and one is merely straightening them out.

Since you told me that you are a smoking addict, I want to share the following story with you. My father smoked in his younger years, when the general consensus was that it was not unhealthy to do so. One day, he was walking in the street and saw a sign stating that smoking was actually dangerous. He put down his pack of cigarettes and never smoked again. My father was a very great chochom, and there are many things that we can all learn from him.

I wish you the greatest brocha in all areas.