\n
![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/GettyImages-1970322451-e1717616598538.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
Hunter \u201cRatch\u201d Ratchford is an Alabama college student with 42,000 followers on TikTok<\/a>. That\u2019s where he posts, pretty much exclusively, about Zyn, a brand of flavored oral nicotine pouches that come in bright round cans and flavors like cool mint, citrus, and cinnamon.<\/p>\n Three years ago, says Ratch, one of his fraternity buddies introduced him to the product. \u201cHe said it helped him focus when he was having back-to-back classes, so I tried it,\u201d he says, noting that it helped him too and that he liked the buzz. \u201cI\u2019ve been hooked ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n Today, he says, he goes through a can to a can and a half a day\u2014about 25 pouches total\u2014placing a pouch between his gum and his lip or cheek around every 15 minutes to deliver the maximum-available-in-the-U.S. 6 mg of tobacco-free nicotine (compared to a cigarette\u2019s 10-12 mg) directly to his bloodstream through the lining of his mouth. His frequent posts\u2014sponsored by Snus Town<\/a>, an online UK-based shop that sends him 10 cans a week to sample\u2014range from dreaming up new Zyn flavors to simply declaring his love for the little white pouches.<\/p>\n And while Zyn\u2019s website says its product is for adults 21 and over who currently use nicotine, Ratch, 22, says that he\u2019d never smoked or vaped (and still hasn\u2019t) when he started using as a teen. \u201cZyn is the only type of nicotine I\u2019ve ever used,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Now he\u2019s just one of the estimated 2.1% of adults (5.2 million people) using smokeless tobacco products in the U.S., according to latest numbers<\/a> from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (which do not break out nicotine pouches specifically).<\/p>\n Ratch is also not the only Zyn user to have started as a teen. According to the National Youth Tobacco Survey<\/a> of 2023, an estimated 1.5% of high school and middle school students (more than half of them boys), representing 400,000 adolescents, use nicotine pouches\u2014around the same percentage (1.6%) who smoke cigarettes, but much less than those who vape (7.7%).<\/p>\n Those numbers have remained unchanged in recent years, noted an April press release<\/a> from the FDA regarding underage sales of nicotine pouches by retailers. Still, said Brian King, director of FDA\u2019s Center for Tobacco Products, \u201cFDA remains concerned about any tobacco product that may be appealing to youth and we will continue to closely monitor youth use of these products.\u201d<\/p>\n Thanks to users of all ages, Zyn and other oral nicotine products (with other brands including Velo, On! and Rogue) comprise a market expected to bring in $2 billion<\/a> of U.S. revenue this year\u2014despite most brands, Zyn included, having none of its products authorized for sale in the U.S. by the FDA. That\u2019s because they hit the market in 2014, before the FDA had regulations for new tobacco and nicotine products in place, and are now being required to retroactively prove they have enough public-health benefit to remain available. Those decisions are now pending.<\/p>\n Sales, meanwhile, are skyrocketing, seeing a six-fold spike<\/a> between 2019 and 2022. And Zyn maker Swedish Match\u2019s parent company, Philip Morris International<\/a>, reported a nearly 80% rise in sales during the first quarter of 2024 over the same period last year, leading to a current shortage<\/a> in some markets.<\/p>\n Many blame youth usage on the preponderance of Zyn content on social media\u2014where fans, or \u201cZynfluencers,\u201d can be found trying new flavors<\/a> for the first time or building sculptures<\/a> from the hundreds of empty cans they\u2019ve collected, using slang terms like \u201clip pillow\u201d or \u201cupper decky\u201d because of where the pouches are placed in the mouth.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all fueled some fears that Zyn could be the next Juul<\/a> in terms of youth appeal and the implications for public health\u2014something Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) seized on recently, as he called on regulators<\/a> to investigate Zyn because of its appeal to teens. That prompted pushback from some prominent conservatives<\/a>, including Tucker Carlson\u2014who had already gone viral in a Zyn-themed video posted to Instagram<\/a> by prankster-influencers the Nelk Boys. In response to Schumer, he declared<\/a>, \u201cZyn is not a sin.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Philip Morris International provided the following statement to Fortune<\/em>:<\/p>\n \u201cFor the nearly 30 million Americans who smoke, Swedish Match is committed to developing products such as ZYN that are scientifically substantiated as a better alternative to continued smoking. Swedish Match goes beyond legal requirements to ensure our marketing is directed toward legal age nicotine users above the age of 21. We do not use social media influencers, refuse requests for such partnerships, age-gate our digital channels, and only use adult-oriented flavors. We\u2019ve also joined\u00a0We Card\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0Advisory Council, a nonprofit serving retailers of age-restricted products, to work with them to educate and train retail frontline employees on the need to card for nicotine pouches, and ensure pouches are included in 21+ signage across the vast majority of brick and mortar shops. Manufacturers, regulators, retailers and social media platforms must work together to ensure these products are only used by people 21+, and we believe we\u2019re doing our part to achieve that objective.\u201d<\/p>\n Regardless, it\u2019s important for parents to be aware of Zyn and its risks, says Rees, adding, \u201cIt\u2019s reasonable to be concerned anytime a child is using an addictive substance or product.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what else parents need to know.<\/p>\n \u201cAddiction in itself is considered a health problem,\u201d says Rees, \u201cand nicotine use disorder has implications for young people\u2019s social and emotional development.\u201d<\/p>\n In part, he says, \u201cIt narrows the behavioral repertoire, so rather than choosing activities that might be beneficial or that might enhance engagement with other people and the world in positive ways, they tend to make much narrower choices that substance use disorder imposes.\u201d Instead of hanging out with friends, for example, teens who are addicted \u201cwill hang out alone and use nicotine.\u201d<\/p>\n Other health risks of nicotine include a moderately elevated risk of increased blood pressure, heart rate, flow of blood to the heart, and a narrowing of the arteries, according to the American Heart Association<\/a>. But the risk of cardiovascular disease, Rees stresses, is much less than with smoking. Most research points to cigarette smoke, not nicotine, as the cause of cancer, although some research<\/a> suggests that nicotine may lead to a type of DNA damage that could elevate the risk of cancer. <\/p>\n Further, a recent small study<\/a> of pouch users found self-reported side effects including mouth lesions, upset stomach, and sore throat. <\/p>\n On the positive side, there is \u201csome evidence\u201d to support it can help with focus, but \u201ccould have a deterioration in focus if you are in withdrawal,\u201d notes Lynn Kozlowski, a longtime tobacco researcher and professor emeritus at the University of Buffalo\u2019s School of Public Health and Health Professions.<\/p>\n What most concerns Kozlowski\u00a0is a recent study<\/a> from Truth Initiative<\/a>, an educational nonprofit that discourages tobacco and nicotine use. It found that most young people aged 15 to 24 who use oral nicotine pouches also smoke cigarettes (73%) and that nearly half (49%) also vape.<\/p>\n Those findings, he believes, are why he feels parents needn\u2019t get too distracted by Zyn.<\/p>\n \u201cSmoking is the much more important thing to be discouraging,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat I am concerned about is if you\u2019ve got clientele among the youth who are largely experimenting with smoking and pouches you don\u2019t want any messaging to make people more afraid of pouches than cigarettes.\u201d <\/p>\n\nZyn sales have skyrocketed<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Nicotine addiction is real<\/strong> and has health risks<\/h2>\n