By Timothy S. Donahue
Top Takeaways:
- Hochul proposes a 75% wholesale tax on nicotine pouches and similar products.
- The tax is projected to raise $18M in the next fiscal year and $44M once fully implemented.
- Critics warn it could undermine harm reduction, while others cite youth-use risks.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is pushing a plan to tax nicotine pouches and other nicotine products at the same rate as combustible cigarettes, imposing a 75% wholesale levy as part of her proposed $260 billion state budget.
The move is expected to generate about $18 million in the fiscal year beginning April 1, rising to $44 million once fully implemented the following year, according to reports on the budget proposal.
Philip Morris International, which owns Swedish Match and markets ZYN nicotine pouches in the U.S., criticized the proposal, stating that the new tax “raises serious concerns from both a public health and affordability standpoint.”
The company said that about 1.4 million New Yorkers still smoke cigarettes and argued that a tax “of this magnitude” could make it harder for adults to switch away from combustible products.
Public health experts interviewed in the coverage urged a risk-based approach. Cristine Delnevo, director of the Rutgers University Institute for Nicotine & Tobacco Studies, said tax policy should reflect relative risk, warning that taxing nicotine pouches the same as cigarettes “could undermine harm reduction,” while leaving them untaxed “could encourage youth uptake.”
She supported “a differentiated, evidence-based tax—above zero but below cigarettes.”
The proposal also drew comments from law enforcement officials focused on the illicit market. Richard Marianos, director of the Tobacco Law Enforcement Network and a former ATF official, urged attention to criminal networks selling illegal cigarettes and higher-nicotine vapes, noting that the proposed tax could reduce access to alternatives.
ZYN nicotine pouches were authorized for sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Jan. 16, 2025, the first time the FDA authorized nicotine pouch products through the premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) pathway.
