Nicotine pouch taxes undermine efforts to help smokers quit

Quitting smoking in Rhode Island just got more expensive. Included in the state’s budget, passed in June, was an 80 percent tax increase on nicotine pouches. The tax represents a fundamental misunderstanding of sound public health policy and effective taxation. It threatens to undermine harm reduction efforts while creating perverse incentives that could worsen public health outcomes in the Ocean State.

Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the sale of Zyn nicotine pouches as “appropriate for the protection of public health.” This landmark decision wasn’t made lightly—it represents the culmination of an extensive scientific review demonstrating that these products can play a valuable role in reducing tobacco-related harm. 

The FDA’s authorization specifically recognizes that nicotine pouches can help adult smokers transition away from cigarettes. In Rhode Island, for example, smoking remains one of the leading causes of preventable death, with 1,800 deaths each year attributable to this habit. Making a can of nicotine pouches almost as expensive as a packet of cigarettes removes a crucial financial incentive for smokers trying to switch to a safer product.

Almost doubling the cost of nicotine pouches represents more than a misguided revenue grab projected to raise less than 0.1% of the budget; it’s also a policy decision with economic consequences. Such extreme taxation often leads to unintended market distortions, including increased cross-border shopping as Rhode Islanders seek more affordable options in neighboring states. This phenomenon reduces the anticipated tax revenue and harms local retailers.

Moreover, regressive taxation policies like this one disproportionately impact lower-income individuals, who are more likely to be current smokers seeking safer alternatives.

Perhaps most troubling is how this tax increase directly contradicts established public health objectives. Decades of research have consistently shown that harm reduction strategies—providing safer alternatives to high-risk behaviors—are more effective than prohibition-style approaches. The success of needle exchange programs, methadone treatment, and other harm reduction initiatives demonstrates that meeting people where they are, rather than where we wish they were, yields better health outcomes. 

Nicotine pouches represent a significant opportunity for tobacco harm reduction. Unlike combustible tobacco products, they don’t involve burning organic matter and the associated carcinogenic tar and smoke. Unlike traditional smokeless tobacco, they don’t require spitting and contain no tobacco leaf. While these pouches contain nicotine, which is highly addictive, it’s not the nicotine that kills smokers but the smoke itself, which is why pouches are a potentially game-changing tool for smokers who haven’t succeeded with traditional cessation methods like patches or gum. 

As with any nicotine product, there are understandable concerns about how nicotine pouches can be kept out of the hands of children. The FDA determined that Zyn, for example, did not present enough appeal to youth to outweigh the gains from saving smokers’ lives. The data bears this out: Less than two percent of middle and high-school students used a nicotine pouch in the last month, and overall youth tobacco use is at a 25-year low. The rapid declines in youth tobacco use show the success of both educational programs and the increase in the tobacco age to 21.

Instead of following the outdated playbook of punitive taxation pursued in Rhode Island, other states should align their policies with the FDA’s scientific determination that nicotine pouches can be a protective measure for public health. Lawmakers should avoid Rhode Island’s mistake and instead craft policies that support smokers in their journey toward better health outcomes.

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