'All of it will be gone, rows of it': The popularity of nicotine pouches

Long-lasting nicotine pouches have become extremely popular on social media and across Western New York. They're in such demand that some stores say they're having difficulty keeping them on the shelves.

"We sell rolls of it at a time," said Brittany Damato, who works at Jim's Truck Plaza in Cheektowaga. "A lot of the time we can't get it in - it's so popular the warehouses run out."

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The pouches are sold in small containers under a number of brand names, including Zyn, Rogue and On! They're held in your mouth between your lip and gum for up to an hour. Most don't contain any tobacco - but they do contain nicotine. They've become so popular that a recent article from JAMA showed that overall sales between August to December in 2019 and January to March in 2022 rose more than 540%.

Each pouch contains between 2-6mg of nicotine. In comparison, a typical cigarette delivers about 2 mg of nicotine to a smoker.

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Users will tell you they're a cleaner way to use nicotine since there's no tobacco in the product. But experts studying the use of the pouches say the verdict on health is still out.

Doctor Maciej Goniewicz with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is studying the effects of using the pouches.

"We have concerns about the effects of the nicotine itself. It has the addiction potential, the cardiovascular effects - and really we don't know what's going on in oral health when people are using the products," he explained.

Many social media influencers rave about the products. They say they use them to stay focused while they study in college or to stay alert at their jobs. Damato says she sees the same people coming in day after day buying rows of pouches - and over the course of a weekend, the store often sells out.

"The last year it's gotten extremely popular, she said. Last year it kind of blew up."

Doctor Goniewicz says one of his biggest concerns is the impact these pouches could have on users' gums and teeth. The pouches are flavored, which means even though you're not inhaling the way you would with some tobacco products there are still chemicals in them.

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"The nicotine is delivered in some kind of cleaner form. But it doesn't mean that it's completely safe," said Goniewicz. "We need to understand right now there is very little research what the impact is. Particularly my concern is the oral health."

There are many brands of nicotine pouches, but Zyn has become very popular, especially on social media. The company is owned by Swedish Match, which is a subsidiary of Phillip Morris International.