With social media today becoming a strong barometer of public sentiment, then it can be reliably discerned that cigarette smoking has tumbled out of vogue.
But curiously, a similar fate has not yet befallen nicotine, the active stimulant in cigarettes, vapes, e-cigarettes, and heated tobacco products (HTPs). Though nicotine is widely recognized as addictive, a growing body of scientific evidence has absolved it from any role in the formation of smoking-related diseases.
The operative word is smoke and with the absence of smoke, nicotine consumption has become cleaner and safer than cigarettes. In fact, medical practitioners for decades have been prescribing nicotine replacement products like nicotine patches and gums to ween smokers away from cigarettes.
Now a new nicotine craze is sweeping across the United States fueled by social media and consumers delighted by the more hygienic ritual of absorbing nicotine and the pleasures associated to it by smokers. No smoke or vapor emissions that annoy people around you. And no frequent spitting induced by chewing tobacco popular among American athletes.
This new craze that has even caught the fancy of Capitol Hill. This product is known as nicotine pouches, a form of oral nicotine product that is tobacco-free. And the most widely popular brand in the US today is called ZYN.
Extensive coverage on ZYN has aided its rise as the brand to watch. In a January 2024 article, The New York Times quoted Penn State University Professor of Public Health Jonathan Foulds who said that nicotine pouches are much less harmful than cigarettes and that for someone who currently smokes, switching to a pouch may lower health risks.
Vox Media said of ZYN, “They’re a boost, a meme, a language, a mindset. ZYNs aren’t just a product, they’re a subculture.”
CNN summed it up thusly: “ZYN has become the cultural sensation in the past year.”
Beyond a savvy name lending itself incredibly well to wordplay and puns (ZYNnovative, ZYNfluencers), ZYN represents a significant leap in nicotine delivery systems.
ZYN, a part of the smoke-free product portfolio of Philip Morris International, comes in circular tins with 15-20 small pouches. They contain nicotine within a permeable wrapper which is absorbed through the gums and mouth lining. By nestling between the upper lip and the gum, nicotine slowly leaks out with the effect lasting for around an hour. This method erases the process of combustion seen in lighting up your usual cigarette, which in turn removes the harmful chemicals found in cigarette smoke. The white pouches don’t even stain the teeth, allaying fears of mouth discoloration. Now that’s ZYNventive!
Given the difficulty smokers face when quitting cigarettes, options that have the potential to reduce harm like nicotine pouches are a welcome addition according to many international and local experts.
For the uninitiated, there is a slew of scientifically-backed package of evidence that switching to smoke-free products like HTPs or nicotine pouches, greatly reduces tobacco harm compared to cigarette smoking. A WHO representative in 2019 even said as much – Dr. Ranti Fayokun, during a Congressional Hearing on vaping regulations, said that compared to cigarettes, using HTPs or vaporized nicotine is less harmful than smoking cigarettes.
In a recent interview with CNBC, former U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb underscored the merits to switching to these alternatives given that there are currently 28 million Americans who still smoke cigarettes.
He said, “We need to restart the conversation around harm reduction in this country. While nicotine is not a completely safe substance, it isn’t what causes death and disease from tobacco. It’s the product of combustion. And if we can convert currently addicted adult smokers onto these modified risk products that don’t have all the harms associated with combustion, we can achieve net public health benefit.”
“While rates of smoking have come down in recent years, the rate of reduction has slowed down. And the way we’re going to make substantial inroads and reducing those numbers even further is trying to offer adult smokers products that don’t pose the same risks as cigarettes,” Dr. Gottlieb added.
“Nicotine does not cause cancer. Doctors even prescribe nicotine replacement therapy to help smokers quit. Exposure to the carcinogens present in the smoke of combustible cigarette is what causes cancer. There is a dose-response relationship – the greater the exposure to a carcinogen, the higher the risk to develop cancer,” said French cancer expert Dr. David Khayat, head of Medical Oncology at La Pitié-Salpétrière Hospital in Paris.
Commenting on the rapid transformation of the market, David Sweanor, an adjunct law professor at the University of Ottawa, said that the overall nicotine market “is switching significantly to non-combustible products,” noting that ZYN is now a bigger seller than other brands. “That ZYN now has higher unit sales than any of them shows how dynamic this formerly staid market has become.”
In the Philippines, home to around 16 million smokers, the introduction of nicotine pouches presents a golden opportunity for public health according to local doctors. Since November 2023, Zyn is now locally available online and in IQOS stores, vape stores, some select 7-11 outlets and tobacconists.
Recalling the success that snus (a nicotine pouch precursor) had in its native Sweden, renowned Filipino urologic surgeon Dr. Rogelio Varela Jr. said, “We can learn by example from the success of snus in Sweden. Nicotine pouches can be a vital tool in our arsenal to save smokers from the grip of addiction and its associated harms. The evidence from Sweden shows that transitioning to smokeless alternatives can significantly reduce smoking-related diseases and mortality rates. This is not just a pragmatic approach but also a compassionate one, offering smokers a lifeline to a healthier future."
Dr. Lorenzo Mata of consumers’ rights group Quit for Good also pushed for the recognition of nicotine pouches as a vital strategy to save Filipino smokers’ lives. “Oral nicotine is a promising avenue for smokers who want a safer alternative. While there are still risks associated with nicotine, the absence of harmful combustion byproducts significantly reduces the health risks associated with traditional smoking. We should continue to explore and advocate for innovative solutions like nicotine pouches to improve public health outcomes and save lives."
These experts all agree that nicotine pouches can yield lasting dividends for smokers who are looking to switch to a product that will most likely be better in the long run for their overall quality of life.
With raves from experts both homegrown and abroad, ZYN’s popularity in social media seemed to be a given. In fact, it has become so popular online that devotees have devised their own jargon, an if-you-know-then-you-know phenomenon. Check any tiktok video with the hashtag #ZYN and you’d be left wondering what “6 milly upper decky lip pilly” or “ripping a lip cushy on the lower decky” mean. Are those newfangled rap lyrics from Jay-Z? No, it’s just the slang for ZYN.
If the argot surrounding ZYN already seems mystifying, then how it’s discussed on social media will be a lot like people speaking in tongues. To be clear, “millys” refer to the milligrams of nicotine in a pouch, and whether it’s an “upper or lower decky” depends on where the pouch is placed in the mouth. “Lip cushy” is neologism for the pouch itself, which resemble tiny cushions. Its ubiquity online has become both the conduit for and evidence of its status as the new nicotine product on the block.
With ZYN and its aptly named ZYNfluencers operating the levers of the attention economy online and kicking off a wave of memes, story reels and thinkpieces, it has predictably caused a stir amongst lawmakers with debates raging stateside.
US Senate majority leader and Democrat party-member Chuck Schumer urged stringent federal oversight on ZYN. Republican lawmakers balked at Schumer’s statements. Whatever direction these debates have taken, they have not slowed the ZYN cultural powerhouse. It may have even caused a spike in visibility and interest for nicotine pouches.
As experts and pundits weigh in on Zyn, the buzz around this humble pouch continues to expand, raising its profile to dizzying heights.