After the alarm about the strong snus among children and young people, the Social Democrats now want to introduce a cap on the nicotine content of snus.
– Snus should be as snus has been, says the Social Democrats’ social policy spokesperson Fredrik Lundh Sammeli to TV4 Nyheterna.
A new trend to try nicotine snuff that is up to 20 times stronger than a traditional snuff has caused problems at, among other things, a school in Robertsfors where several students vomited in corridors and toilets.
The snus trend worries the Public Health Authority, among others. The authority sees it as “very worrying” that more and more young people, and ever younger people, are using snus.
Today, there is regulation around the maximum permitted nicotine content in cigarettes and e-cigarettes. However, there are no regulations regarding nicotine content in snus. The Social Democrats now want to change that by introducing a ban on strong snus.
– There have been some reports that children and young people have been harmed by increased nicotine levels in snus. We also see how the nicotine levels are taking off and skyrocketing, says the Social Democrats’ social policy spokesperson Fredrik Lundh Sammeli to TV4 Nyheterna.
– Then it is perfectly reasonable to go in and regulate the maximum ceiling of the nicotine content in the same way as we have for cigarettes and e-cigarettes, he continues.
“Snus should be as snus used to be”
When asked if it is enough to regulate the nicotine content to protect children and young people from addiction, Sammelli answers:
– We believe that snus should be as snus has been. The development we are seeing, where snus is becoming many times stronger, is a dangerous development, says Fredrik Lundh Sammeli.
He believes that there may be support for the ban among the other parties in the Riksdag.
– I assume that we are many parties that want to take this responsibility. We have snus in Sweden and it is a product that we have had for a long time, he says.
– But when the development soars and these levels reach new heights, I assume that more parties want to introduce regulation.