San Francisco sues retailers for illegally selling nicotine pouches online

Four manufacturers and retailers are being sued by San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu for violating a ban on the online sale of flavored nicotine pouches. 

The prosecutor has seized the Superior Court of San Francisco County on September 3, 2024, to prosecute manufacturers and retailers Northerner Scandinavia, Lucy Goods, Rogue Holdings and Swisher International for illegally selling flavored nicotine products online to San Franciscans since 2019. Such an online sales ban has existed throughout the state of California since 2022.[1].

Products banned from sale in California

On November 8, 2022, California voters passed Senate Bill 793, the Flavored Tobacco Ban. As of January 1, 2023, this legislation prohibits the sale of most flavored tobacco and nicotine products by any retailer in the state. This ban extends to nicotine pouches. Non-flavored pouches remain available for sale. This ban had already been in effect in the city of San Francisco since 2019. The texts are even more restrictive because flavored hookah tobacco and cigarillos are also included in the scope of the ban while they remain authorized in the rest of the state. This ban on flavored products was decided to limit the initiation to nicotine by adolescents, who are sensitive to the attractiveness of flavors.

The prosecutor's complaint alleges that all of the defendants maintain websites through which they sell a variety of flavored nicotine products, including nicotine pouches, directly to consumers. These nicotine pouches, such as those sold under the brand names ZYN (Philip Morris), Juice Head, Velo (British American Tobacco), ROGUE, and LUCY, are "flavored tobacco products" under Section 19S of the San Francisco Health Code. It is therefore illegal to sell them to any person located in San Francisco, whether a minor or an adult.

Sales made without verifying the buyer's age

The prosecutor's office conducted test purchases on the manufacturers' websites and found that the age and information about the buyer were not systematically checked.

Despite Northerner Scandinavia’s assertion and instructions to consumers that the name on their photo ID must match the billing information, Northerner processed and sold flavored nicotine pouches to a customer who presented a photo ID that did not match the name and address on the credit card used for the transaction. Northerner then shipped the ZYN and Velo nicotine pouches to the customer at an address in San Francisco, California. Northerner failed to label the package to indicate that it contained a nicotine product or that a signature of a person 21 years of age or older was required for delivery of the product. Similar findings were made for the other three manufacturers.

Products popular with young Californians and accessible despite the ban

L'California investigation 2023 on smoking, vaping and other non-therapeutic nicotine product use among youth found that 1.1% of middle school students aged 4^th regularly use flavored nicotine pouches in California. Nicotine pouches are popular with young people because of their low cost and appealing flavors.

In his complaint, prosecutor Chiu said tobacco companies continue to find new ways to introduce teens to nicotine, endangering millions of young people and threatening decades of progress in reducing youth smoking.

In 2019, the San Francisco Unified School District was among thousands of cities, counties, and other school districts that sued tobacco and vaping manufacturers over the marketing and advertising of e-cigarettes to youth in 2019. Many of the cases were consolidated into a class action lawsuit that resulted in a $1.2 billion nationwide settlement by the manufacturers. Following the citywide ban and these lawsuits, vaping among the city’s youth declined. In 2022, the survey found that fewer than 6,100 San Francisco high school students were regular vapers, compared to 11,100 in 2018.

In France, the National Committee Against Smoking (CNCT) filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor last May concerning the sale of nicotine pouches in France, for trafficking in poisonous substances. The association points out that the sale of these products is illegal in France but is becoming commonplace. It highlights the development of aggressive marketing strategies by manufacturers aimed at young people, outside of any regulatory framework.[2].

©Tobacco Free Generation

AE

[1] Joe Burn, Gabe Greschler, City targets online sales of flavored Zyn nicotine pouches in lawsuit, The San Francisco Standard, published September 4, 2024, accessed September 5, 2024

[2] Communicated, The CNCT calls for a ban on nicotine sachets, sold illegally in France and files a complaint, CNCT, published on May 29, 2024, consulted on September 5, 2024