The ZYN-demic: What you need to know
ZYNs are smokeless oral nicotine pouches. Other popular nicotine pouch brands include Velo and On!. Nicotine pouches are placed in the mouth and along the gums. They come in a multitude of flavors and concentrations of nicotine. From 2016 to 2020, the market for nicotine pouches grew by 305 percent.
According to the American Lung Association, “A 2022 study of 44 nicotine pouch products found that 26 of the samples contained cancer-causing chemicals and several other chemicals such as: ammonia, chromium, formaldehyde, nickel, pH adjusters, and nicotine salt.” While ZYNs have been proven to be better for users than traditional cigarettes or vapes, they still pose harmful effects.
While nicotine pouches possess harmful chemicals, they became FDA approved in January this year. The FDA approved 20 ZYN products for marketing. In order for the FDA to have cause to approve a product, they need to have a reasonable belief the product will be more beneficial to the public’s health than harmful. Many believe that ZYNs are effective to use for quitting smoking.
The FDA made it clear that ZYNs and other similar products are not intended for use by minors. In a public statement about the approval for marketing of ZYN products Brian King said, “It’s critical that the manufacturer market these products responsibly to prevent youth use…”
Professionals state that ZYNs do have value for quitting smoking. The long term goal, however, is to ultimately quit nicotine. This initial intent is often lost among young users. Instead of using them to quit nicotine, nicotine pouches are often used as an accessible method of nicotine intake.
In the past couple of years, nicotine pouches have been a major trend in pop culture. In the sports world, they have taken the spotlight in professional hockey, baseball, football and golf. Major figures, such as Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ quarterback Baker Mayfield, have publicly been seen using nicotine pouches and have been outspoken about their use of them.
In an article posted on Golf Digest, professional golfer Tim Herron was quoted saying, “When I’m putting in a long practice session, I’ll put in a ZYN (a brand of nicotine pouches) to maintain my focus, stick with my routine and get things done.” Nicotine pouches do activate neurotransmitters that can cause short-term boosts in focus and attention.
An anonymous OHS junior stated, “I first learned what a ZYN was after the famous video of Baker Mayfield came out. I was just kind of curious and started to look them up.” In the video, Baker Mayfield is sitting on the bench during an NFL game. He can be seen putting in a ZYN before going back into the game.
This trend is also relevant in Owatonna High School, where ZYNs have been becoming more popular. Students have a wide range of reasons for trying nicotine pouches. These reasons include pressure from friends, to help with focus and because they enjoy the buzz.
An anonymous OHS senior said, “I first started using ZYNs after a friend first offered me one and I said yes.” This is not a unique first exposure to ZYNs for students at OHS. Other, but not all, anonymous students shared similar experiences for their first time.
An anonymous OHS junior said, “I knew people that did them, but I did not feel any pressure to try ZYN. I just wanted to know what it felt like”.
Once students started using nicotine pouches, they continued to use them because they enjoyed the buzzing sensation, felt as though they needed them to function or wanted to continue to experiment with them. Of the students who admitted they were addicted to nicotine, a majority said it did not take long for them to become addicted. Many of these students use nicotine pouches multiple times throughout the day and use about a tin every week. Tins contain 15 or 20 individual pouches, depending on the brand.
This rapid addiction can be explained by research done by the American Lung Association. An article posted on their website states, “Depending on the nicotine content of the pouch being consumed, let’s say a 6 mg ZYN pouch, the nicotine ingested would be equivalent to smoking approximately 3 packs of cigarettes.” Of the OHS students interviewed, 80 percent of nicotine pouch users said they often use 6 mg pouches or higher.
In the United States, the legal age to buy any nicotine product is 21 years old. For students at OHS, everyone who purchases ZYN or other nicotine products claims to buy them from friends, relatives or other adult acquaintances. Some students only use them socially and get them from friends. Others have someone 21 years old or older who is willing to purchase nicotine pouches for the student. A few students have parents or family members who do not care if their student uses pouches. The parent or family member buys for the student.
This reflects the widely accepted belief that nicotine pouches are essentially harmless.
For people who are looking for help, there are resources within OHS and the Owatonna community as a whole. Officer Quinlan emphasizes providing people suffering from addiction with the help they need as opposed to disciplinary action.
Officer Quinlan said, “If you came up to me and told me that you just need help getting off of them… I’m not going to get you in trouble. We’re going to work together to get you out of it.”
Officer Quinlan went on to say, “I’d rather see you be successful, be healthy and be an upstanding member of our community than to see you get in trouble over some nicotine pouches.”
Beyond Officer Quinlan, OHS has a substance counselor named Ms. Peyton Rollenhagen. Ms. Rollenhagen works through the school to provide additional services to those directly affected by substance abuse.