As Director of Family Programming at Youth Prevention Mentors (YPM), a global organization dedicated to mitigating youth substance risks, I’ve observed an alarming pattern emerging across our international networks. Our helplines are lighting up with a singular concern: Zyn, a nicotine product that’s rapidly infiltrating youth spaces with unprecedented stealth and sophistication. “The calls are coming from everywhere,” explains one of our European coordinators. “Stockholm to Sydney, Toronto to Tokyo—parents and educators are encountering the same white pouches, the same behavioral changes, the same desperate search for answers.” A Global Challenge At YPM, we’ve spent decades helping families navigate youth substance risks, but Zyn presents unique challenges. Philip Morris International has created what amounts to the perfect delivery system for today’s teens: discrete, digitally marketable, and deceptively “clean” in its presentation. Our global data is troubling. YPM’s family support networks report a 300% increase in Zyn-related consultations over the past six months alone. The pattern transcends cultural boundaries, suggesting that Philip Morris has tapped into something universal in youth culture. The Digital Amplification What makes this crisis particularly challenging for our prevention teams is its digital velocity. As Dr. Hayley Nelson, a neuroscientist and psychology professor at Delaware County Community […]
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