Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania, dismissed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's call for a federal crackdown on gin-made nicotine pouches, saying Thursday there are “bigger issues” to address.
“I'm going to be on the side of more freedom and personal choice,” Fetterman told reporters. “And I made the same argument when I wanted to legalize marijuana.”
Fetterman added that while he doesn't support “snuff or chewing tobacco,” it should be a freely available substance for adults to choose.
“So I don’t support it,” Fetterman said of Schumer’s campaign against popular nicotine products.
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Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania, clarified in a recent interview with NBC News that he is “not a progressive.” (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Schumer on Sunday called for a federal crackdown on Zyn nicotine pouches and a “warning to parents” about their addictive effects. Schumer is asking the Federal Trade Commission and Food and Drug Administration to investigate Zyn's marketing strategy targeting young social media influencers and its health effects.
“This is a bag full of problems: high levels of nicotine,” Schumer said at a news conference. “So today, I'm sending a warning to parents because these nicotine pouches appear to be trapping young children, teens, and even younger young people on their sites. And use social media to engage them.”
Philip Morris International, the company that makes the gin, denied Schumer's claims in a statement to the media.
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U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York called for an investigation into Zyn. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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”philip morris “International and its affiliates (including Swedish Match, the manufacturer of ZYN) fully meet and exceed the regulations governing our industry,” the statement said.
“Our marketing practices include social media influencer — Focused on preventing underage access and setting industry benchmarks. Real-world evidence shows this approach works. The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FDA shows that oral nicotine pouch use by people under the legal age remains extremely low. ”
In 2021, Zyn became the world's leading nicotine pouch brand with sales exceeding 3 billion units.
