Nicotine Pouches Take Off—and Land in the Culture Wars

A newly popular alternative to cigarettes is changing the way many Americans consume nicotine—and becoming a political flashpoint.

The product, a nicotine pouch, looks like a tiny tea bag and comes in flavors such as mint, coffee, berry and mango. It tucks discreetly into the cheek and doesn’t require the user to spit. And if you follow former Fox News host and nicotine-pouch booster Tucker Carlson, you will already have heard a lot about the largest U.S. brand, Zyn.

Zyn has been on the U.S. market since 2014, but its sales have skyrocketed over the past year. It shipped 116 million cans in the U.S. in the fourth quarter, a 78% increase over the same period a year earlier, according to its maker, Philip Morris International. By dollar sales, Zyn now represents 24% of the smokeless category, which includes traditional smokeless tobacco such as Copenhagen, Grizzly and Skoal, according to a Goldman Sachs analysis of Nielsen data.

A chorus of self-styled “Zynfluencers” has been promoting the brand on social media, creating headaches for Philip Morris, which says it doesn’t join with social-media influencers and says its products are intended for adults who already use nicotine. Meanwhile, the debate around Zyn is intensifying among health experts, consumers and lawmakers, with public sparring between Democrats and Republicans. At issue: whether nicotine pouches are a boon for public health or a threat to children.

Carlson has made unfounded claims that Zyn helps with focus and erectile dysfunction—claims which Philip Morris rejects.

“Zyn is not a sin, that’s the advertising campaign,” Carlson quipped on a podcast in October, while describing Zyn’s benefits for male sexual performance.

“While we understand these may be Mr. Carlson’s views, or made in jest, these statements lack a scientific foundation,” Philip Morris wrote to Carlson’s production team a few days later. “Given Mr. Carlson’s popularity and reach, these statements could promote a misunderstanding and misuse of our products.”

Philip Morris said it has declined requests from Carlson’s representatives to form a partnership with the brand. Carlson didn’t respond to requests for comment.

“If you’re not 21 years old, this is not a product for you,” Philip Morris Chief Executive Jacek Olczak said in an interview. The company has reached out to social-media influencers asking them not to promote Zyn in any forum where the audience includes people under 21, he said.

“Some people are more responsive, some people are less responsive,” Olczak said.

What’s in Zyn?

Nicotine pouches, which don’t contain tobacco leaf, are filled with wood pulp along with nicotine salts, artificial sweeteners and flavorings. They are comparable in risk to pharmaceutical products such as nicotine gums or patches, said Ray Niaura, a professor at New York University’s School of Global Public Health. Nicotine pouches like Zyn could save lives by helping adult cigarette smokers switch to a much safer alternative, Niaura and other public-health experts say.

At the same time, tobacco-control advocates have expressed concern about the products’ potential appeal to underage children and teens—and the lack of federal marketing restrictions around them. Unlike cigarette brands, nicotine-pouch brands are permitted to advertise on billboards and television. And unlike some e-cigarettes such as Juul, they are still sold in fruity flavors at convenience stores and gas stations.

“These nicotine pouches seem to lock their sights on young kids—teenagers, and even lower—and then use the social media to hook ‘em,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said in a January news conference where he called for federal regulators to investigate.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) responded on X with a photo of a cool-mint flavored Zyn container on his desk. “Come and take it, Chuck,” he wrote.

Among young people, nicotine pouches are still far less popular than e-cigarettes. In a federal survey conducted between March and June of last year, 7.7% of middle- and high-school students said they had used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days; 1.6% said they had used traditional cigarettes and 1.5% said they had used nicotine pouches.

FDA review

The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates U.S. tobacco products, has been considering applications submitted by Zyn and other nicotine-pouch brands, weighing their potential benefit in helping adult smokers switch from cigarettes against their potential risk to children. The agency hasn’t yet decided whether to allow any nicotine pouches to remain on the U.S. market.

If the agency does authorize a nicotine pouch, the authorization might come with marketing and flavor restrictions. Federal regulators have cracked down on menthol- and fruit-flavored e-cigarettes because of concerns that such flavors appeal to underage users. At the moment, there are no flavor restrictions on nicotine pouches.

Nicotine is addictive but by itself doesn’t cause cancer or lung disease, according to the FDA. Those diseases are associated with the scores of other harmful constituents in cigarette smoke.

“The FDA remains concerned about any tobacco product that may appeal to youth,” said Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. The agency has taken action against manufacturers and retailers for selling tobacco products designed to encourage youth use.

In the U.S., Zyn is available in flavors including mint, cinnamon, coffee and citrus. It comes in two nicotine strengths: 3 mg and 6 mg. Nicotine absorbs through the cheek more slowly than when inhaled through the lungs, so nicotine pouches don’t deliver as fast of a buzz as cigarettes or e-cigarettes.

Sales surge

Cans with 15 Zyn pouches cost on average about $5.50 apiece. Philip Morris shipped 385 million Zyn cans in the U.S. last year and has forecast shipment volumes of about 520 million cans for this year. The company, which sells Marlboros and other cigarettes outside the U.S., acquired Zyn in its $16 billion takeover of smokeless-tobacco maker Swedish Match in 2022 and has expanded distribution of the product.

Olczak attributed Zyn’s success to growing awareness among adult smokers about cigarette alternatives. Zyn is “very selective” in its flavors, which help adult smokers switch from cigarettes, Olczak said. Zyn avoids flavors such as cola that are available from other brands and could appeal to children, he added.

Zyn has advertised on late-night TV and on outdoor signs. Last August in Nashville, Tenn., where the brand sponsored IndyCar’s Music City Grand Prix, Zyn signs were hung on balcony railings of bars on Broadway, visible from sidewalks where families were walking.

“Though Broadway is open to the public, our sponsorship aligned with the mature nature of the venues, crowds and activities that occur in this specific area,” a Philip Morris spokesman said. He cited data from Nielsen showing that 92% of IndyCar fans are age 21 or older.

Write to Jennifer Maloney at [email protected]