“Same crap in new packaging”

Nice colors on the boxes and good flavors attract young girls to try white snus. Critics believe that the new legislation is not enough.

– They are launched as fresh, wonderful alternatives. But it’s the same crap in new packaging, says researcher Louise Adermark.

White, tobacco-free snus. With the taste of citrus, vanilla or mint. It can’t be that dangerous, can it?

In Sweden, the first nicotine snuff – or white snuff – was launched in 2016. Since then, the market has exploded.

The new snus has changed character. The taste and smell from the tobacco has been removed. So also the tobacco, according to the suppliers. This has meant that the nicotine snus has been able to be marketed as “tobacco-free”. This despite the fact that snus still contains the highly addictive and health-damaging substance nicotine.

In recent years, snus use has increased sharply among young people, mainly among girls. The percentage of girls of high school age who smoke has more than quadrupled if compared to the beginning of the 10th century, according to figures from the Central Association for Alcohol and Narcotics Information (CAN).

“Alarming”

And it is mainly the white snus that attracts.

18 percent of all young women aged 16–29 use white snus compared to twelve percent of young men of the same age, according to a survey from the Public Health Authority.

– It is very worrying. Consumers have been tricked into this a bit. Once you start, you become addicted quickly and it is very difficult to stop, says Louise Adermark, who researches the consequences of nicotine addiction at the University of Gothenburg.

Due to the fact that white snus is not covered by the Tobacco Act, it has until recently been able to be sold to people under the age of 18, and also marketed to young people.

However, new legislation was introduced in 2022 and 2023. There is now an 18-year age limit, marketing and sales are regulated and products must be labeled with health warnings.

“The flavoring attracts young people to try”

But several organizations and authorities have questioned whether this is enough. In connection with the adoption of the new law in the summer of 2022, a proposal to ban flavored e-cigarettes was also voted down in the Riksdag.

In its consultation response, the Public Health Authority wanted not only to see a ban on flavored e-cigarettes, but also a ban on flavoring nicotine snus.

– We have seen that the flavoring attracts young people to try it. Our hope was that if you ban flavoring, not as many people will be attracted to try the products, says Åsa Thornqvist, head of the unit for tobacco prevention at the Public Health Agency.

Targeted at young people via Instagram

Researcher Louise Adermark would also like to see legislation that is significantly more powerful.

– It is easy not to understand the risks. You are interested in the different types of flavors, in the colors. It becomes like an accessory, she says.

One reason for the increased interest among young people is believed to be effective marketing.

When the organization A Non Smoking Generation reviewed the marketing on Instagram in 2021, they saw, for example, that three tobacco companies had marketed white snus together with at least 34 influencers at an estimated value of SEK 11.8 million.

Louise Adermark has seen for herself how advertising is aimed at younger PhD students at her department.

– They have received an extreme amount of advertising all the time about the white snus, with pictures of fresh girls. It’s lovely flavors. They have worked hard with the marketing to reach this group that was previously underrepresented when it comes to snuff. And it has been successful, she says.

Facts

Sniffing among younger people

Read moreFacts

The health risks of snus

Read more