By now you’ve probably noticed the rapid ascent of nicotine pouches like Zyn and Velo. The little round cans are everywhere: advertised in convenience store windows, strewn across the sidewalk, filling social media feeds and infiltrating offices. Zyn’s synthetic nicotine offers the kick of a cigarette or dip without the cancer-causing smoke and chemicals of tobacco, packaged in a pouch that can be discreetly tucked into the upper lip.
But that doesn’t mean they’re risk-free. In fact, we know very little about how nicotine pouches could affect health or addiction trends in the U.S.
Moreover, tobacco companies are selling the products in dosages and flavors that seem very clearly designed to appeal to younger users, even though buyers are supposed to be at least 21. Even without a ton of data, researchers can already tick off reasons for teens to steer clear of Zyn. The most obvious is that nicotine is addictive.
“Nicotine is not good for developing brains,” says Brittney Keller-Hamilton, an epidemiologist at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. The chemical commandeers the brain’s reward system, giving it a strong hit of dopamine at a time when the organ is particularly vulnerable to addiction. Using nicotine at a younger age creates a harder-to-kick habit, while priming the user for addiction in general, she says.
So far, industry has sponsored nearly all the scientific publications on nicotine pouches, says Tory Spindle, a professor at Johns Hopkins S.