“I’ve got a friend who’s trying to quit vaping and he’s now using a product called ‘Zyn’. He says they’re nicotine and they help him with his cravings when he really feels he needs to vape. What are Zyns and are they legal in Australia?”
Zyn (or ZYN) is a brand name for a relatively new product that appears to be gaining popularity across parts of the world – oral nicotine pouches. With cigarette smoking becoming less popular, a growing number of companies have moved into producing and marketing what are now referred to as ‘tobacco or smoke free’ products.
These products, many of which look like a piece of chewing gum, are placed between a person’s lip and gum allowing nicotine to be absorbed through the mucous membranes inside the mouth. The drug then enters the bloodstream, providing a ‘nicotine hit’. A similar product known as ‘snus’ has been around for hundreds of years, with those pouches supplying the nicotine via shredded tobacco leaf. What makes these new products different is that instead of containing oral tobacco, which has been banned from sale in Australia since the early 1990s, these use synthetic ‘tobacco-free’ nicotine. This powder is produced in a laboratory and due to this change some manufacturers have claimed that they can be legally bought and sold in this country.
Like e-cigarettes (or vapes), these pouches were originally developed to be nicotine replacement products, similar to patches and gum, helping people to quit or reduce their smoking. Unfortunately, what we have seen here and around the world, is that young people, many of whom have never smoked a cigarette, have started vaping. Although the manufacturers of brands such as Zyn claim their products are marketed as an “alternative to smoking for people who are already consuming nicotine”, due to their bright and colourful packaging and the fact that they come in a range of flavours such as ‘apple mint’ and ‘black cherry’, they’ve been criticised for appearing to try to make them attractive to young people.
The nicotine concentrations of the different brands can vary greatly, with some containing much higher levels than cigarettes. For example, Zyn pouches are available in a range of strengths, depending on where you live, i.e., the strength options in Europe are different from those in the US. It’s difficult to compare the effects of the use of these products with that of smoking cigarettes or vaping as the absorption rate of nicotine is quite different, i.e., the absorption process through your gums is slightly slower. Nevertheless, the lowest strength pouches would have a similar effect to smoking one cigarette, with the strongest (9-11mg of nicotine) being the equivalent of around 10 cigarettes. Other brands of pouches can contain far more nicotine, some up to 50mg. If you haven’t smoked or vaped and not used to the effects of nicotine these can make you feel very unwell. Most importantly, like all nicotine products, using these products can lead to addiction.
Zyn pouches are sold in packaging that is likely to appeal to very young children. It’s important to note that nicotine is a toxic substance, particularly in concentrated forms like those used in these products. They need to be kept somewhere safe as they can be very dangerous if they’re swallowed by babies, young children and even small pets.
The law in this area is extremely complicated. As these products contain nicotine they are deemed a ‘therapeutic good’. As a result, to be sold legally they need to be approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). Currently, none of these products, including Zyn, have been approved so it is currently illegal for them to be sold or advertised in this country. People are permitted to import them for personal use if they have a prescription from a GP but that is dependent on the weight of the product being brought into the country. It is all quite confusing and, unfortunately, the manufacturers are certainly using this lack of clarity to promote their product.
First published: April 2024
