Another week, another article on nicotine pouches. This time, it’s the Economist’s take on the rising popularity of ZYN.
ZYN puns ✅
Tucker Carlson ✅
Masculinity ✅
Conservatives ✅
Culture war ✅
If you had all of these on your ZYN article in the media bingo card, then congratulations. If you didn’t, make sure you get a bingo card with those five topics next time because you’ll probably win.
The Economist is a venerable UK institution. Founded in 1843 to support the cause of free trade, it’s generally seen to this day as as economic liberalist outlet. I quite like the paper and read it often enough, so I was interested to see what they’d have to say about nicotine pouches.
The framing
The Economist’s framing of the article is a symptom of our times. Pouches offer consumers a way to use nicotine without all the death and illness of smoking. The product's ability to transform the lives of people who smoke is and should always be the story.
However, articles about the culture war get more clicks. So, the piece is more concerned with asking the question, “Why do conservatives in America love Zyn?” rather than what that product could mean for 28 million Americans who still use combustible cigarettes.
That said, I would like to read an article that makes a decent fist of explaining why ZYN is popular among conservative Americans. The problem is that this Economist piece doesn’t get around to answering that question.
Instead, we get a few words about Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Chuck Schumer. The surface is left unscratched. The author does throw us a bone in the form of conservative commentator Michael Knowles stating that “nicotine is politically incorrect,” but it’s thin gruel.
The details
The article contains some interesting facts. For example, the author states that only 0.04% of Americans use nicotine pouches. Indeed, pouches are still a very small, if growing, industry, as evidenced by ZYN sales shooting up by 62% last year.
However, soon, the article drifts into conjecture. Case in point:
“But the little research so far is inconclusive on pouches’ usefulness for quitting, and while in theory a smokeless, tobacco-free pouch is safer than cigarettes, Zyn and its competitors may get more people hooked on nicotine, particularly youngsters. “We can’t say it’s a safe product,” says Mary Hrywna of Rutgers University.”
In just one sentence, the author manages to squeeze in four questionable positions.
Let’s break them down.
#1. Research so far is inconclusive on pouches’ usefulness for quitting
Nicotine pouches are a relatively new product. As such, the product doesn’t have the benefits of decades of research into their effect on quitting. However, we do have:
- Research on the effectiveness of snus as a quit aid.
- Pouches instrumental role in helping Sweden become “smoke-free”.
- A New Zealand pilot study showed that between 16% and 31% of pouch users had quit smoking with the products after three months.
#2. In theory a smokeless, tobacco-free pouch is safer than cigarettes
Yes, it’s true in theory. But it’s also true in practice.
As you may note, nicotine pouches are even safer than snus, per this graphic. We already know that snus is dramatically less harmful than cigarettes, and if nicotine pouches are even safer than snus…
#3. Zyn and its competitors may get more people hooked on nicotine, particularly youngsters
Having a dependence on nicotine is a big problem if you smoke combustible cigarettes. However, if you get your nicotine via vapes, snus, or pouches, the harms are tiny.
Nicotine dependence doesn’t have to be any more of a problem than having a few coffees or caffeine-filled energy drinks each day.
The whole getting hooked on nicotine argument hinges on the harms of smoking. Otherwise, it’s not a problem worth paying much attention to.
Also, most importantly, pouches provide a credible avenue away from smoking. So, people who were destined to become smoking statistics due to their interest in nicotine now have a non-leathal alternative. If anything, these products help reduce smoking rates, just like vaping has across the globe.
#4. We can’t say it’s a safe product
Yes, it’s true that nobody can say that. However, it’s also true that no one is saying that. It’s a harm reduction, not a harm-eliminating product.
Final thoughts
There is room for someone to dig into ZYN’s popularity amongst conservative men in America. However, the Economist fobs us off by ultimately saying, “the public-health conversation has, predictably, become polarised.”
That thin and disappointing answer explains little. However, just as predictably, what could have been an interesting article is instead packed with misleading statements that will discourage people who smoke from considering a life-saving alternative.
Come on, Economist, step up your game!
