Oral nicotine pouches have caught the attention of New York state lawmakers. A bill in the Legislature would prohibit flavored pouches from being sold in the state, following the precedent set by the state’s 2020 ban on flavored vape cartridges.

That ban was rooted in the argument that the fruit and candy flavored products were being marketed to minors. Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal said she had similar concerns about Zyn, which comes in flavors like mint, citrus and coffee that are authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“You always have to keep on top of this industry,” said Rosenthal, who’s sponsoring the bill to ban the sale of flavored pouches. “Because as we extinguish some of the availability to youth in particular, the industry comes up with more ways to entice people to be addicted to nicotine and their products.”

The legislation — which is sponsored in the Senate by state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal — asserts that minors could turn to nicotine pouches as flavored vapes become harder to find under New York’s ban, media reports. Rosenthal pointed to studies linking nicotine use with narrowed arteries, high blood pressure and impacting brain development. Since the pouches do not contain tobacco, they carry less risk for cancer than cigarettes.

But Rosenthal also warned that the pouches could put minors on the path to long-term nicotine addiction, comparing Zyn’s creative flavors and colorful advertisements to old cigarette commercials that depicted “a cool group of young adults at the beach having fun smoking cigarettes.”

Zyn is manufactured by Swedish Match, a subsidiary of tobacco giant Philip Morris International. The company has stressed that it does not employ any of the social media voices who rave about Zyn online. It also maintains that Zyn is intended and marketed only for those 21 and older.