Zyn nicotine pouches spark debate over benefits, risks
WASHINGTON — There’s nothing complicated about the latest tobacco product trending online: Zyn is a tiny pouch filled with nicotine and flavoring.
But it has stoked a debate among politicians, parents and pundits that reflects an increasingly complex landscape in which Big Tobacco companies aggressively push alternative products while experts wrestle with their potential benefits and risks.
Zyn comes in flavors such as mint, coffee and citrus, and Philip Morris International markets it to adult tobacco users. But videos of young people popping the pouches have racked up millions of views on TikTok and other social media platforms.
That trend has advocates worried that Zyn could become the latest nicotine product to attract underage teens, similar to the way Juul triggered a yearslong spike in vaping. Other experts say that risk is outweighed by the potential to steer adults away from cigarettes and other traditional tobacco products, which account for 480,000 U.S. deaths annually.
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result,” said Dr. Jasjit Ahluwalia, an addiction specialist at Brown University. “That is what we’ve done with tobacco for decades. We’ve been all about abstinence, instead of embracing products that can reduce harm.”
Ahluwalia sees nicotine pouches and e-cigarettes as a way to help smokers cut back or quit cigarettes. That approach is standard practice in the U.K., but it’s outside the medical mainstream in the U.S., where only pharmaceuticalgrade medications like nicotine gum and lozenges are formally approved to help smokers quit.
Ahluwalia points out that Zyn works the same way as those products: releasing low levels of nicotine that are absorbed into the gums, reducing cravings. The chief difference, he notes, is that Zyn is sold by Philip Morris, the global cigarette giant.
The controversy over Zyn recently spilled over into politics, pitting Democrats and Republicans in Washington against each other and spiraling into another skirmish in the nation’s culture war.
In late January, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called on regulators to investigate Zyn, citing its appeal to teens. Several House Republicans then warned constituents that Big Brother intended to “ban nicotine.”
Zyn users have quickly developed their own online vocabulary, including “zynnies,” “zynner” and “zynsky.”
“There’s this online subculture around Zyn that’s been spearheaded by younger males, but a lot of that’s not coming from the brand itself,” said Ollie Ganz, a Rutgers University tobacco and nicotine researcher.
Online videos show young people documenting their first experiences trying Zyn, reviewing different flavor combinations and displaying heaping piles of used canisters.
“It’s concerning to see the countless Zyn-related memes and hashtags that are being amplified and normalized across social media,” said Kathy Crosby, CEO of the Truth Initiative, an anti-tobacco advocacy group.
Truth and other groups point to research suggesting nicotine can interfere with brain development in adolescents.
It’s the Food and Drug Administration’s job to weigh Zyn’s risks to youngsters against its potential to help adults.
In a statement, an FDA spokesman said the agency is monitoring underage use, noting that 1.5% of high school and middle schoolers reported using pouches last year. That’s well below the 10% who used e-cigarettes.
FDA officials have allowed Zyn to stay on the market while they review Philip Morris’ marketing application, which has been pending since 2020. If teen use remains low, the company could win FDA authorization for at least some of its offerings, which come in multiple strengths and flavors.