Sales of Zyn nicotine pouches skyrocket in southern Arizona

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – The FDA has officially approved the marketing and sale of nicotine product Zyn in the United States.

The flavored pouches have exploded in popularity, including on college campuses like the University of Arizona.

Students there told 13 News more classmates have started to pick up the product.

“It’s something I see everywhere. I see them littered on the floor sometimes too,” said student Jacob Mooney.

Zyn became the first flavored nicotine to get such FDA approval, which in the past has been accused of being marketed to younger students. In the case of Zyn students like Mooney said students use them for focus or studying.

But others said it has become a part of the party scene in Tucson, particularly with young men.

“(University of Arizona’s) going out culture is really big. So, I’ve seen them quite a bit. More so with boys than girls. But there’s definitely a market here,” said U of A student Aubrey Boss said.

The flavored pouches have soared in popularity, particularly on social media over the past few years. It’s part of the reason the FDA looked into the product because of the rise in use and flavoring geared towards younger people.

“It just seems more socially acceptable. I feel like cigarettes for a long time were kind of frowned upon and (Zyn’) are, like, less offensive to people around you,” said student Richard Holloway.

The attention the product has got has helped local businesses, specifically gas stations.

“We sell a lot of Zyn, upwards of $100,000 worth every month. We have a big shipment of Zyn coming in. It’s just a big mover,” said Raj Sihota who owns a gas station and the Twisted Indian restaurant.

Sihota said he has more than tripled his volume of sales for the product in the last six months alone, with inventory flying off the shelves so fast he has to purchase new orders every other day, which is the same timeframe for how often gas gets delivered.

“There’s hundreds of Zyn’s (stored) here,” Sihota said, “We’ve had stocking of Zyn’s up ceiling high.”

However, through the FDA approval process and even now with the decision, there is still a stigma around the product. With many community members debating the true benefit of the product

“Some kids are using it maybe stop smoking; that’s the ideal purpose of it. But then some people are using it to try and study, and that helps them get addicted to it, and can be bad in that case,” Arizona student Nicholas Petrov said.

Now with the new FDA approval, Sihota says it could entice more people to try it. But the biggest impact will be the ability for more advertisements around town.

“The marketing, they will go heavy on the marketing, and that will increase the sales,” Sihota said.

The FDA’s approval allows for the sale and marketing of the product in the United States. That means manufacturers in the United States could make the product.

But more relevant in the coming weeks, is the ability to more robustly market the product, something already seen on the University of Arizona campus.

“There’s campus stores and delivery services that advertise and you see it that way,” Petrov said.

Sihota said this approval could widen the usage in Tucson, not just with university students, as he already sees cops, doctors, lawyers, and many others vying to get their hands on it.

“The new generation doesn’t want to smoke, so Zyn is already an enticing product for the newer generation. So, I see that having a bigger market share than any tobacco company out there,” Sihota said.

Just because the FDA gave its stamp of approval it does not mean the product is safe. Experts say Zyns are just less harmful than cigarettes or other forms of tobacco.

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