Zyn, Juul, and the Battle Against Underage Nicotine Use By Andrew Knight

Over the past few years, nicotine use has seen a shift. More customers are putting down both cigarettes and vapes alike, in favor of a new development in nicotine delivery technology, Zyn. A Zyn is a pouch containing nicotine. To use Zyn, one puts a pouch between their gum and their lip. The drug is then absorbed into the bloodstream through the mucus membrane of the inner lip, in a mechanism that mimics that of smokeless tobacco. The pouch contains a flavoring, a sweetener, and nicotine salts. The pouch is immensely popular among those looking to curb their smoking habit. Unfortunately, the product has also taken another market by storm, that of underage nicotine users.  

The product has caught the attention of those who are underage primarily for the convenience factor. Long gone are the days of having to get up from your class and walk to the bathroom to get your nicotine fix. All it takes is a little “lip pillow” in the “upper decky” and you have your buzz, all from the comfort of your classroom seat. Zyn has distinct advantages over chewing tobacco as well. When one puts dip in their lip, they must have a can or bottle nearby, as they need to spit out the juices constantly, or they will experience nausea or vomiting. 

Zyn is owned by the company Swedish Match, which was recently acquired by tobacco giant, Philip Morris International, in 2022. Philip Morris International can be recognized as the parent company of the cigarette brand Marlboro. The product differs from others offered by PMI, as it offers nicotine satisfaction without the harmful effects of tobacco use or vaping. Because the route of delivery is through the gums, the lungs are left unharmed. Cigarettes, vapes, and chewing tobacco also contain a long list of harmful chemicals that are also introduced to the body during consumption. Zyn’s short ingredient list contains no known carcinogens, and as such the packaging only has a warning about nicotine’s addictive properties. (Philip Morris International)

Zyn gives consumers the desirable effects of nicotine while avoiding the presence of harmful carcinogens. This has been the mission of the company since its launch. Its parent company, Swedish Match holds a mission statement of “a world without cigarettes.” Which is ironic now given the company's new owner. The negative health effects of cigarettes, as well as their addictive properties, have been well documented since the beginning of tobacco’s cultivation. Despite this tobacco has always been a cash crop, with a consistent market for consumption. Traditional nicotine delivery systems, cigarettes, and smokeless tobacco give the buzz along with a slew of carcinogens. This, understandably, will make one associate the nicotine itself with the incidence of cancer. What many don't realize is that, according to all available data, nicotine alone will not give you cancer. (Cancer Research UK)

Since the product's release in the United States in 2014, Zyn has become a product with a cult-like following. With a distinct boom in popularity coming in the past two years, along with it’s growing presence on social media platforms. Influencers on TikTok and Instagram showcase the product in comedy videos. Videos with young men holding a pouch in their upper gums with captions such as “Zynaccino” “Zynbabwe,” and my personal favorite, “Forgive me, father, for I have Zyned.” Any word can be taken, and the first syllable replaced with Zyn, to create a slang term. The slang of Zyn culture is represents Generation Z’s coining of absurd terms. Beyond the words for the product itself, terms were coined to describe both the practices of Zyn use, as well as descriptive words for the product. “Upper decky” is the term used to describe the upper gums, where one might hold their Zyn. “Ferda” is a shortened term for “for the boys” which most accurately describes the product’s primary market in the United States. 

The cult following comes from that sector of the nicotine market. Young men, primarily, are the ones seen showing their support for the product online. While these viral trends have given way to a boom in the product's popularity, they have also put a target on the back of the company. Neither PMI nor Swedish Match have engaged in marketing campaigns targeting underage nicotine users. The viral online promotion has come from underage users, for underage users. All of the online posts and advertisements posted by Zyn are age-gated, and their website will confirm your age before allowing you access to their content. 

This boom in the presence of Zyns in contemporary pop culture has given birth to a new category of entertainers called “Zynfluencers.” Even in noncomedy videos, men can be heard toting the benefits of Zyns. The most notable “Zynfluencer” being former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson. Carlson has made some wild claims about the product offering all kinds of benefits, from an increase in focus and alertness to a boost in testosterone levels and sexual prowess. On the Full Send podcast, Carlson can be heard describing the sensation of the product as “The hand of god reaching down and massaging your central nervous system.” Aside from the increase in focus and alertness, these claims have no scientific backing. Carlson, along with numerous other Zynfluencers doesn’t hesitate to encourage their young audience to “pop on in the upper-decky.” As stated before, Swedish Match, nor its parent company Philip Morris International sponsors these Zynfluencers. (Grier and Kirshner)

Even without the company having a direct involvement in marketing to those who are underage, those in the political sector have not been shy about voicing their negative opinion on the product. They make the claim that the products many flashy flavors, including Pineapple, Cinnamon, and Citrus, are evidence of their target market being those who are underage. Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, famously called the product “a pouch packed with problems,” and claimed that the product set its sights on “teenagers and even younger,” and that it used social media to “hook ‘em.” Schumer urged the FTC and the FDA to investigate the product. (Gabbatt)

The appropriation of a smoking cessation device by underage users, the use of viral marketing to promote such a product, and the eventual government crackdown on said product is not anything new. Six short years ago, Americans saw the same battle against underage addiction in the form of another company, Juul. Like Zyn, Juul was founded to curb one's smoking habit, and like Zyn, the mission backfired. Minor’s loved the product and the flashy flavors it came in, and they took the product as their own. Instead of curbing the addiction of former smokers, Juul ended up working to hook another generation on nicotine. 

Government action against Juul was swift and effective, and just three short years after the product release in 2015, lawmakers were able to quarantine the company from the underage market. Lawmakers pressured the company to pull the majority of their pod flavors from shelves. All the fruity flavors that filled the high school bathroom stalls in 2018 were pulled from the shelves. One could no longer get their hands on fan-favorite pods such as Mango, Fruit Medley, Cucumber, or Creme Brulee. Though tobacco and menthol flavors are still being sold in gas stations and convenience stores around the country, the company's stake in the underage nicotine market is far from what it once was. (Kirkham et al.)

Though the attack on the company proved successful, the attempt to curb underage nicotine use has largely been unsuccessful. As with any holes in all markets, the hole left by the 2018 Juul ban filled quickly. The banning of mango, cucumber, creme brulee, and fruit medley Juul pods quarantined the youth from the consumption of Juul products but gave birth to a more harmful vape market. What took the place of Juul was disposable vapes. Disposable vape hardware is shipped from China, and sold in the US under a slew of differentnames. These are what are now found in the trashcans of high school restrooms, and on the roof under the Massbay bathroom windows. Cheaply made Chinese vaping devices go by different names such as Elfbar, Puffbars, and Crave disposables. Though, flavored vapes are illegal in the US, with the only legal flavorings being tobacco and in some states, menthol, these fruity disposable vapes are still widely available. The market has developed to the point that there is no single company the FDA can target for regulation. Because of their near impossibility to be regulated, these products have gone unchecked, and have been known to burn lips and explode in the pockets of users. One company can be regulated, but a thousand companies, with no central distribution, is much harder for the government to control.(Noguchi)

Zyn’s fall under the category of nicotine replacement therapy, but, speaking from experience, it operates far differently than nicotine patches or gum. Unlike nicotine patches, Zyns have a high amount of nicotine, and they can give you a strong buzz. The nicotine is absorbed rapidly through the lining of the gums and, due to the high doses found in Zyn pouches, the effect is very similar to smoking a cigarette or hitting a vape, though admittedly not quite as intense. Regardless the buzz satisfies an addict's need for nicotine effectively, and will make one rethink that cigarette or puff bar. 

As was the case in 2018, I feel if lawmakers can successfully do to Zyn what they did to Juul, the market hole will fill just as quick. Working only to boost the sales of these black-market disposable vapes. When it comes to a drug such as nicotine, I feel as though eradication in the short term is out of the question. It would take generations to eradicate the nicotine market. If the government were to focus less on the regulation of the products, and more on the education of the harms that they come with, similar to how cigarettes were taught about in the early 2000s, nicotine use could become a thing of the past.

Works Cited

Cancer Research UK. “Is vaping harmful? | Vaping side effects.” Cancer Research UK, 27 March 2023, https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/smoking-and-cancer/is-vaping-harmful. Accessed 10 May 2024.

Gabbatt, Adam. “Zyn nicotine pouches are the latest US culture-war front – but are they any good?” The Guardian, 10 March 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/10/zyn-nicotine-pouches-us-culture-war-front. Accessed 10 May 2024.

Grier, Jacob, and Alex Kirshner. “What Chuck Schumer Doesn't Understand About Zyn.” Chuck Schumer on Zyn: Actually, Majorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson are right., 31 January 2024, https://slate.com/technology/2024/01/chuck-schumer-zyn-controversy-explained-whos-right.html. Accessed 10 May 2024.

Kirkham, Chris, et al. “Timeline: Significant events in the history of Juul.” Reuters, 25 September 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN1WA2LI/. Accessed 10 May 2024.

Noguchi, Yuki. “Flavored vapes are supposed to be illegal, but they're still widely available.” NPR, 12 July 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/07/12/1187354558/flavored-vapes-are-supposed-to-be-illegal-but-theyre-still-widely-available. Accessed 10 May 2024.

Philip Morris International. “PMI progresses toward sole ownership of Swedish Match, further supporting our ambition to deliver a smoke-free future.” Philip Morris International, 5 December 2022, https://www.pmi.com/media-center/news/PMI-progresses-toward-sole-ownership-of-swedish-match. Accessed 10 May 2024.