Senator Schumer Criticizes Nicotine Pouches; Zyn Users Respond Defensively

Nicotine pouches, notably Zyn-brand pouches, went viral this week following Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's demand for government intervention to avoid a Juul-style "epidemic" of teen usage. Schumer, a Democrat from New York, is a longstanding opponent of nicotine and tobacco.

"It comes in a whole lot of flavors," Schumer stated at a news conference on Sunday. "Smooth, minty, citrus, cinnamon, served cold. "It is dangerous." Schumer requested the FTC and FDA to examine Zyn and other nicotine pouches.

"It's a pouch packed with problems—high levels of nicotine," Schumer stated during a press conference last Sunday. "So today, I'm delivering a warning to parents, because these nicotine pouches seem to lock their sights on young kids—teenagers, and even lower—and then use the social media to hook 'em."

However, few teens use nicotine pouches. The 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey found that just 1.5 percent of middle and high school students had used a nicotine pouch at least once in the previous 30 days. Far fewer pouches were used regularly—and these findings applied to the whole product category, not just Zyn.

Zyn is the best-selling nicotine pouch

Nicotine pouches are consumer-grade oral nicotine products. They are made out of porous fiber bags packed with cellulose or other food-grade fillers, flavorings, and nicotine in different concentrations. They are patterned to Swedish portion snus, but do not include tobacco.

Zyn pouches are only available in relatively low nicotine doses of 3 and 6 milligrams, which are comparable to the amounts used in nicotine gum and lozenges offered over the counter as nicotine replacement treatment.

Zyn, manufactured by Swedish Match, the industry leader in snus, was released nationwide in the United States in 2019, following several years of regional test marketing. Zyn has proved so successful, dominating the "modern oral product" portion of the US tobacco and nicotine industry, that tobacco giant Philip Morris International plans to acquire Swedish Match in 2022. Zyn's rivals in the category include the On!, Velo, and Rogue brands.

The Zynsurrection is coming to a social networking app near you

Schumer's anti-Zyn diatribe sparked a fierce social media response, particularly among Republican and conservative lawmakers and commentators. "Big Brother Schumer doesn't want us to chew or smoke," North Carolina Representative Richard Hudson said in an X/Twitter post. "Now he's against a solution that has helped countless people quit. "Come get it!" Hudson is the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

According to political reporter Dave Weigel, many conservatives use oral nicotine medications, particularly Zyn, as a cognitive enhancer. (Nicotine has been demonstrated to improve memory and concentrate.) Weigel claims that Tucker Carlson, a former Fox News personality and right-wing celebrity, is well-known for supporting Zyn.

"Democrats, who generally try to avoid conservative media influencers, might not have known how popular ZYN had become in that space," Weigel said in a blog post. "There, it is viewed not as a sin, but as a work-enhancer—addictive, but well worth the sacrifice. It belongs to a larger category of medically dubious medicines, nutritional fads, and brain enhancers that have grown closely connected with right-wing and wellness podcasts in recent years."

For the past decade, several conservative groups have proven to be crucial partners of vaping proponents. Americans for Tax Reform, for example, worked tirelessly to persuade the Trump administration to reverse a flavored vape prohibition that had already been announced and supported by the President.

However, not all Zyn defenders were Republicans. Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, a longstanding marijuana legalization supporter, told reporters that he would oppose a Zyn prohibition, including one proposed by Democratic Senate leader Schumer.

"When I make a judgment," Fetterman stated, "I'll err on the side of more freedom, personal choices, and the like. And I used the same reasoning when I sought to legalize marijuana.

Zyn is already banned in two states, and more may follow. Schumer's request for an FDA inquiry is superfluous, as the agency is already reviewing pre-market tobacco applications (PMTAs) from Swedish Match and other nicotine pouch producers. However, the Senate Leader's remarks may have been meant to tip the scales against FDA approval for Zyn. Other members of Congress, most notably Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, have successfully lobbied the FDA to take action against Juul Labs and other vaping producers.

Tobacco control groups, now determined to rid the world of nicotine in whatever form, have recently focused their efforts on Zyn and other nicotine pouches. Even though pouches contain no substances that are not present in equivalent proportions in FDA-approved nicotine gum, anti-nicotine campaigners believe they are justified in advocating for prices, limits, and bans.

"Truth Initiative strongly urges the FDA to remove all unauthorized oral nicotine products from the market and to accelerate their work to eliminate all flavors from tobacco products," according to a Truth Initiative press release dated December 2023. "To help prevent young people from starting to use these products, restrictions that curb exposure to the marketing of these products should also be implemented."

Whether or not the FDA will follow the wishes of its tobacco control friends and refuse to approve nicotine pouches in any flavor that consumers desire, as it has done with vaping products, the same pressure groups are promoting state and local laws that prohibit flavored nicotine products such as vapes and pouches.

Massachusetts and California have already restricted the sale of consumer oral nicotine products in tastes other than tobacco, and numerous other states are now exploring similar legislation.

As you read this, Chuck Schumer could have discovered a new moral outrage

Chuck Schumer was a key figure in the Juul moral panic, pushing for heavy FDA fines on the business in 2017 and continuing to promote tobacco control talking lines in the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids' years-long anti-vaping campaign. But Schumer hasn't limited his phony moral outrage to nicotine goods.

Schumer has called for action on a variety of issues, including yoga mat chemicals, 3D-printed firearms, laundry detergent, laser pointers, energy drinks, bitcoin, drones, high-frequency stock trading, cereal pricing, homemade explosives, video games, cadmium in children's jewelry, and more.

"No issue," the editor of Reason, Nick Gillespie, wrote in 2015, "is too stupid or inconsequential for Schumer to weigh in on, inevitably calling for a ban or regulation that serves no other possible purpose than to shine a light on the glory and grandeur of Chuck Schumer."