Jacob Sullum, senior editor at Reason magazine, said on April 1 that Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed 75% wholesale tax on nicotine pouches would undermine public health by making a lower-risk nicotine product more expensive for adults who might otherwise switch away from cigarettes.
The proposal aims to redefine nicotine pouches as taxable tobacco products in New York, subjecting them to the state’s existing 75% wholesale tax, according to the New York State Senate legislation summary. Critics argue that treating smoke-free nicotine pouches the same as combustible tobacco ignores major differences in risk and would sharply raise prices on products many adults use instead of cigarettes.
“By pushing a 75% wholesale tax on nicotine pouches, New York State Budget Director Blake Washington says, Gov. Kathy Hochul is trying to address ‘a public health concern.’ That rationale is absurd on its face, since this tax would sharply raise the cost of a nicotine product that is far less hazardous than cigarettes, perversely discouraging smokers from making a switch that could save their lives,” Sullum wrote on Creators.com. “Hochul, who seems determined to portray a money grab as a benevolent intervention, is either oblivious or indifferent to the health consequences of taxing nicotine patches at the same rate as cigarettes. That position ignores the huge difference between inhaling tobacco smoke, which contains myriad toxins and carcinogens, and orally absorbing nicotine from a pouch placed between the lip and gums,” he said.
In January 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized 20 ZYN nicotine pouch products through its premarket review process after an extensive scientific review. The agency said these products contain substantially lower amounts of harmful constituents than cigarettes and most smokeless tobacco products and pose lower risk of cancer and other serious health conditions, according to the FDA press announcement.
The FDA’s authorization standard weighs whether such products can help adults move away from cigarettes to potentially lower-risk alternatives. A review published in Tobacco Control found evidence of a positive substitution effect between cigarettes and non-cigarette tobacco products—meaning policies that make reduced-risk options less attractive can weaken incentives for smokers to switch away from smoking.
Reason Foundation points out that high tobacco taxes have already contributed to illicit markets in New York: citing Tax Foundation estimates, it reports New York has the second-highest inbound cigarette smuggling rate in the country, with 51.8% of cigarettes consumed coming from illicit sources and more than $800 million in forgone tax revenue. The group argues that steeper taxes can push consumers toward untaxed channels rather than legal sales.
Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at Reason and a nationally syndicated columnist who has covered drug policy, public health, gun control, civil liberties, and criminal justice for more than three decades. His weekly column is distributed nationally, and he is the author of books including For Your Own Good and Beyond Control, both focused on public policy and personal freedom.
