Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) fell back into the Democratic push for a nanny state this week when he called for federal action against Zyn nicotine pouches.
A video featuring Schumer began with the Democrat declaring, “Pouch packed with problems: high levels of nicotine. So today, I’m delivering a warning to parents because these nicotine pouches seem to lock their sights on young kids, teenagers and even lower.”
Zyn pouches are just one of several products that deliver nicotine without cigarettes or chewing tobacco. They are used orally, many times by those who wish to stop smoking.
But the product consumed is still addictive, and some warn of the possibility of a relapse by former smokers.
Even so, this is hardly the first time that Democrats recently targeted nicotine products for heavy federal regulation or even a blanket ban. Last month the Biden administration’s proposed ban on menthol cigarettes was delayed.
Not over health issues but worries that Black voters would be outraged by the prohibition leading up to the November presidential election.
Chuck Schumer now wants the government to crack down on Zyn calling it a "pouch full of problems."
Mr. Schumer, this will be your one and only warning on behalf of all the fellas: Do not cross that Rubicon.
You will have reaped the whirlwind and you will pay the price. pic.twitter.com/uGmDl5wYMh
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 23, 2024
As for Zyn, Schumer reportedly requested the Federal Trade Commission and Food and Drug Administration probe the manufacturer “for concerns relating to marketing and health effects.”
The social media response to Schumer’s call for yet more government regulation was swift and brutal.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) posted on X, formerly Twitter, “Joe Biden wants to ban menthol cigarettes. Chuck Schumer wants to ban Zyn. The nanny state is alive and well with today’s Democratic Party.”
GOP communications strategist Steve Guest made a strong point on White House priorities.
He wrote, “We live in a world where Joe Biden and the Democrats are allowing fentanyl to flood across the border from Mexico and China to poison our communities. What is Chuck Schumer’s response? ‘Let’s go after Zyn.’”
And NRSC communications director Mike Berg observed, “Schumer [is] about to make a lot of people single issue Republican voters.”
A crackdown on Zyn makes little sense in a world where tens of thousands of Americans die from fentanyl overdoses every year. Especially knowing the source of the scourge and how to defeat it but instead choosing to leave the border wide open.
