July 31, 2026
THC pouches got their biggest endorsement yet on July 23, when Tilray Brands launched ZONNA, a pouch brand carrying 10 mg of THC per pouch, 15 to a can. It's the first oral pouch from a major licensed producer, and the format it copies is unmistakable: a small white pouch that sits between gum and lip, the same delivery mechanism that made ZYN a multi-billion-dollar nicotine product. One catch before anyone updates a US sales deck: ZONNA is Canada-only, produced by Aphria and sold through licensed Canadian retailers under the Cannabis Act.
A version of this story circulating on social media has a nicotine-pouch company crossing into THC. As far as the public record shows, that hasn't happened. Philip Morris is going the opposite direction, committing $1.2 billion to expand ZYN production in Colorado through 2028 with no cannabis products announced. Turning Point Brands, whose FRE pouch line grew sales 133% last quarter, keeps FRE strictly nicotine. The crossover is running the other way: cannabis companies borrowing the nicotine industry's best format.
Tilray is the biggest name on the pouch, not the first. Sensi Brands launched its Chillows pouches in Canada back in November 2024. In the US, the movement is coming from smaller operators in licensed channels:
There's no reliable market-size figure for THC pouches yet; the category is too new and gets folded into edibles in most sales data. The nearest proxy, CBD pouches, is a small market growing at roughly 20% a year. What the format has going for it is the same thing beverages had: discretion, dose control, and no smoke, aimed at a customer the flower counter wasn't reaching.
Here's the regulatory wrinkle that matters for anyone selling into US retail. Pouches exist in both channels today: hemp-derived versions in general retail, and cannabis-derived versions in licensed dispensaries. The federal appropriations provision we covered in our beverages piece this week caps hemp products at 0.4 mg of total THC per container on November 12, 2026. A 10 mg pouch, let alone a 150 mg can, fails that standard by a mile.
Unless Congress replaces the cap, the hemp side of the pouch business goes dark in November, and the licensed dispensary shelf becomes the format's only legal US home. That's the same consolidation story playing out in beverages, arriving in a category that's a year or two younger.
ZONNA itself won't touch a US dispensary anytime soon. What it signals is still useful:
The format has graduated. When a producer of Tilray's size builds a brand around pouches, packaging suppliers, nanoemulsion ingredient makers, and co-packers should expect US dispensary brands to follow, and the early ones (KSHN, JuanaDips) are already signing supply chains.
New York and Massachusetts are the US test markets. Those are the states where licensed THC pouches are on shelves now, which makes their dispensaries the accounts where category questions ("would you stock a pouch SKU?") get real answers.
Watch for the hemp refugees. If the November cap holds, hemp pouch brands like Cannadips face the same choice hemp beverage brands do: reformulate, exit, or go licensed. Brands entering the licensed channel need everything from compliance help to distribution, and they need it on a deadline.
What are THC pouches? Oral pouches, modeled on nicotine pouches like ZYN, that deliver THC through the gum without smoke or vapor. Doses in licensed products typically run around 10 mg per pouch.
Does Tilray sell ZONNA in the United States? No. ZONNA launched July 23, 2026 in Canada only, through licensed cannabis retailers. Tilray has not announced US plans for the brand.
Are THC pouches legal in the US? Cannabis-derived pouches are sold in some licensed state dispensaries. Hemp-derived versions are legal federally until November 12, 2026, when a 0.4 mg-per-container THC cap takes effect.
If pouch brands come shopping for shelf space, the dispensaries piloting the category are already identifiable by state and license. See verified dispensary contacts in New York, Massachusetts, and four other states, refreshed weekly. Free preview here.
Holden Leads
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