For decades, the message to Americans who smoked was essentially simple: quit or suffer the consequences. That message reflected the urgency of the cigarette epidemic, and the lack of alternative nicotine products available to smokers. The good news is that the marketplace, driven by innovation and science, has changed. While cigarette smoking has declined to historic lows, modern nicotine products, such as nicotine pouches and heated tobacco products, provide much better options for the legal-age adult smoker. Of course, a clear understanding of the options available is critical to making the right decision.
This is where the FDA’s recent action on the ZYN nicotine pouch product comes in. The agency issued modified risk orders for 20 ZYN nicotine pouch products, allowing them to be marketed with a specific, FDA-authorized claim: using ZYN instead of cigarettes puts adults at lower risk of mouth cancer, heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, emphysema and chronic bronchitis. To be clear, the FDA did not say these products are safe. Nor did it say those who do not use nicotine should start. Instead, after a rigorous scientific review, the FDA decided to allow these ZYN products to be marketed with a modified risk claim that informs adults who smoke about the reduced risks associated with these products. That distinction matters. Adults deserve accurate information about the relative health risks of tobacco and nicotine products.
Convincing adult smokers to completely switch to smoke-free alternatives is only half the equation. It is also important that non-nicotine users, particularly youth, do not start using these products. Fortunately, progress is being made on that front as well.
According to the FDA’s recently released analysis of the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), current use of any tobacco product, combustible tobacco products and e-cigarettes have all been declining between 2022 and 2025. Youth tobacco use is currently at historically low levels.
The same survey also offers important context on nicotine pouches. The FDA reported that youth use of nicotine pouches remains “low and stable.” Overall, youth use of nicotine pouches in the past 30 days was 1.7 percent in 2025, compared with 1.8 percent in 2024.
No one should condone any youth use of tobacco or nicotine, and continued vigilance is essential. But the trend matters. Youth tobacco use has continued to decline as adult smokers have gained access to more smoke-free nicotine products such as nicotine pouches. That should challenge the reflexive assumption that harm reduction for adult smokers and prevention of tobacco use by youth are inherently in conflict. In public health, success does not come from rhetoric. It comes from policy that aligns with scientific evidence.
On policy, the urgent public health challenge is still cigarettes. Cigarette smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Millions of adults continue to smoke despite decades of warnings, taxes, restrictions and cessation campaigns. Many have tried to quit and failed. Some will quit successfully with counseling or FDA-approved cessation therapies. Others will not. Those adults who continue to smoke need to understand that no longer are there only two possible outcomes -- abstinence or continued smoking. There is a third way that involves switching to smoke-free nicotine alternatives, but public policy needs to help.
Public policy must encourage adult smokers to consider less harmful smoke-free nicotine products. Blanket product bans and excessive taxes on smoke-free products may sound protective, but they make it harder for adult smokers to move away from cigarettes. A better approach is evidence-based and targeted: strong age-gating at retail, serious enforcement against illicit products, clear product standards, responsible marketing rules and accurate communication about relative risk.
The 2025 NYTS data do not mean the youth use problem is solved. They do suggest that the country is capable of maintaining historically low youth tobacco use while continuing to evaluate and authorize lower-risk alternatives for adult smokers. That is not a contradiction. It is the foundation of a more mature tobacco policy.
Dr. Matthew R. Holman is the vice president and chief science and regulatory strategy officer for PMI U.S. Holman is the former chief scientist at the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products.
