Policy
Zyn ban falters amid industry backlash
Poppers of “upper deckys” and “babwes” in New York can breathe easy after proposed Zyn ban dies in committee.
A bill that would have banned the sale of flavored nicotine pouches like these died in committee. Austin C. Jefferson
A divisive Zyn ban bill that rankled small-business owners and consumers alike has faded away this session like the sweet sting of a peppermint six-milligram pouch. Sponsored by Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal and state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, the proposed legislation would have banned the sale of flavored smokeless nicotine packets like Zyn.
According to Assembly Health Committee Chair Amy Paulin, a strong lobbying push got to committee members, leading to the bill being pulled from a Wednesday vote. Rosenthal still plans to amend the bill, but Paulin said its future rests on any possible overreaches from Big Tobacco.
“If the tobacco companies start selling pouches and market them to children, the bill will be back,” Paulin told City & State. Zyn, which contains no tobacco, is produced by Swedish Match, a subsidiary of tobacco giant Philip Morris International.
A number of organizations strongly opposed the bill, including the Business Council of New York, the New York Association of Convenience Stores and the Tobacco Law Enforcement Network. The Business Council of New York argued that instituting tougher point-of-sale age verification would be a better method to protect children from exposure to addictive nicotine products than banning smoking cessation tools like nicotine pouches, while the Tobacco Law Enforcement Network feared that banning nicotine pouches would create a thriving black market. The Business Council of New York also warned that pulling nicotine pouches from the market would cost businesses millions of dollars and shrink the state’s tax revenue.
“The state cannot lose any revenue in a time where funding from the federal government could become limited, and all revenue streams become crucial to keeping state services funded,” the group wrote in a letter to the state Legislature.
Brian Erkkila, director of regulatory science at Swedish Match, said in an appearance on Capitol Pressroom Monday that data shows adolescents don’t seek the product out in large numbers and their marketing practices are skewed toward an older crowd in accordance with federal regulations.
“We don't use influencers, we don't use celebrities, we do not use athletes, all of our people in our ads are over 35 years old (and) all of our digital properties are age-gated because we want to ensure these products are available for people who smoke or use other products or are currently using Zyn,” Erkkila said. “We want to ensure no one under 21 has access or is using the product.”
On the federal level, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has pushed for similar proposals in the past and some have theorized that an inadvertent politicization of the product has led to some of the pushback it has received. Conservative pundit Tucker Carlson sang Zyn’s praises in a podcast appearance last year, before launching his own brand of nicotine pouches called ALP, and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was spotted popping an offshoot brand under his lip during his confirmation hearing.
Some observers see Democrats’ support for limiting access to nicotine pouches as a sign that they have learned nothing over the past few years.
Slingshot Strategies pollster Evan Roth Smith said lobbyists might have actually saved lawmakers from themselves in this case, calling the proposal a “greatest hits album” of Democratic party missteps.
“Focusing on nanny state-style product bans is the opposite of showing we get voters' priorities,” Roth Smith said. “It'll hurt us specifically with the constituencies that we care about the most, or where we're losing ground, and it does nothing to show that we're serious about governing well in the places we govern, because it has nothing to do with most people's quality of life.”