Snus

‘Siberia’ Snus

A Swedish invention, Snus is pasteurized and moist granulated tobacco that is used orally.

• It's mostly portioned into convenient pouches (like teabags). These are available in differing portions, from mini, slim, and up to ordinary sizes.
• Whereas "loose snus" tobacco powder has to be squeezed into spherical/cylindrical shape before use.
• Not chewed, but usually placed behind the upper lip.
• It is available in a range of flavours and strengths to suit any palate / nicotine requirement.
• Produced to a high standard, the processing results in ultra low levels of nitrosamines and other known carcinogens that occur naturally in tobacco.
• Common ingredients added are 20-60% water, 1.5-3.5% sodium chloride, 1.5- 3.5% humectants, 1.2-3.5% sodium bicarbonate, and less than 1% flavours.
• Can be used for 20-60 min usually, or as long as it still emits flavours or until it liquifies too much.
• Often available for around 5 euro for a tin of 20 (sizing varies).
• Lower nicotine likely implies lower dependency profile than cigarettes, because of slower nicotine absorption (akin to gums).

• Should be stored in the fridge, if infrequently used.

Legal Status

• Illegal to sell in the EU (excluding Sweden), but purchase and use is not illegal (unclear if just due to tobacco industry track record, general opposition to proliferation of further tobacco products, preempting regulation for geographically restrained appeal, or even pharma influence)
• Illegal in the UK, but calls have been made by Appgvaping to legalise it's sale. Snus is reasonably easy to obtain in the UK, from sources on social media, and can be ordered online. Little to no enforcement appears to be carried out to block it's transit through customs, or to stop it's use.

Studies

2003: Effect of smokeless tobacco (snus) on smoking and public health in Sweden (J Foulds / L Ramstrom / M Burke / K Fagerström)

"Snus availability in Sweden appears to have contributed to the unusually low rates of smoking among Swedish men by helping them transfer to a notably less harmful form of nicotine dependence."

2012: Contrasting snus and NRT as methods to quit smoking. an observational study (J Scheffels / K E Lund / A McNeill)

"Norwegian men frequently use snus as a method for quitting smoking whereas women are more likely to use NRT. The findings indicate that switching to snus can be an effective method for quitting smoking."

2013: Patterns of dual use of snus and cigarettes in a mature snus market (K E Lund / A McNeill), n=3524

Dual use is relatively small. Large percentage of users have stopped smoking, or are planning to by using snus. […]

2015: Time to First Use Among Daily Smokers and Smokeless Tobacco Users (B Rodu / N Plurphanswat / K Fagerström)

"[…] offering some support for the Fagerström-Eissenberg hypothesis that the dependence level of cigarettes is higher than that of ST." (certainly applies to Snus as well)

2019: Snus: a compelling harm reduction alternative to cigarettes (E Clarke / K Thompson / S Weaver / J Thompson / G O’Connell)

"The available scientific data, including long-term population studies conducted by independent bodies, demonstrates that the health risks associated with snus are considerably lower than those associated with cigarette smoking."

Other references

• http://www.smokersonly.org/ on smokeless tobacco as quitting option. Mentions an estimate of ST being 98% less harmful than cigarettes.
• https://snusforumet.se/en/snus-science-database/ - Encompassing research list on Snus Forum.
• https://www.snuson.com/ - Consumer forum.