Snus, this chewing tobacco that young people (and footballers) love

Just hang around TikTok to discover the slew of snus-evoking videos. This powdered tobacco is often presented in sachets (much like tea) stored in round colored boxes. Recently, he was talked about via the French football team. On board the plane taking him to Qatar with his teammates, Karim Benzema (who has since been forced to abandon competition for injury) took a picture of himself alongside Marcus Thuram and posted the photo on Instagram. We can see that the latter has with him a box of snus. And when he reposted Benzema’s photo on his own social media, he hid it with an airplane emoji. It must be said that snus has been banned within the European Union since 1992, with the exception of Sweden, which has the right to sell it on its territory, but not to export it.

Marcus Thuram is not the only football player to show up with a box of snus or taking it. On TikTok, several videos compile football internationals who would engage in this practice (images more or less in support). Zlatan, Mark Gillespie, Tammy Abraham, Victor Lindelof, Kenneth Hoie or the French Samuel Umtiti and Kylian Mbappé.

How to explain this enthusiasm of footballers for snus? Especially when you think that this product is illegal in the major European football nations. Jean-Pierre de Mondenard, sports doctor and doping specialist, provides part of the answer in an article in Le Monde. “Nicotine is a stimulant and a relaxant. It suppresses the appetite, improves concentration and increases the secretion of adrenal steroids (…) It can bring a certain benefit in different sports of skill and precision”.

The nicotine contained in snus would therefore serve as a “doping agent” for footballers, while passing under the radar of official sports bodies. According to Jean-Pierre de Mondenard, football stars are far from the only ones to dope themselves with nicotine. Skiers, basketball players, volleyball players, skaters, rugby players, American football players, gymnasts, wrestlers… About forty sports would be concerned, according to a study carried out by Swiss researchers in 2011.

For a few minutes of relaxation

Athletes aren’t the only ones succumbing to snus. Young people also seem to find a certain appeal in this alternative to classic tobacco, and even non-smokers. But with them, the desired effect seems totally different. They do not consume snus to increase their concentration and performance. They seem to see it as a way to relax and create moments of well-being.

Placing a sachet of snus directly on the gums (whose skin is extremely thin) would increase the effect of nicotine tenfold, and therefore release endorphins more quickly and intensely than with a cigarette. Snus would serve as a supplement at a party, much like alcohol or soft drugs. But its effects would be shorter, of the order of a few minutes.

There are no figures on the consumption of snus in France or elsewhere in the European Union, the product being prohibited for sale. In Sweden, where it originates, snus is said to be extremely popular. A million Swedes consume it daily (out of a population of ten million).

One billion views on TikTok

To quantify the magnitude of snus, you have to go to social networks, and particularly to TikTok. The #snus is mentioned there a billion times, in videos in several European languages… including in French. You can see young people (very often) trying this oral tobacco for the first time. Kind of like trying a new drug. Many don’t seem to feel well. Vomiting, heat, dizziness are the most felt (undesirable) effects if we rely on the many comments from tiktokeurs. Some even claim to have felt unwell, or even to have had to go to the emergency room.

It must be said that a sachet of snus contains nicotine at a high dose, the equivalent of two to ten cigarettes depending on the product purchased. Hence this feeling of dizziness (like the first cigarettes). “In these sachets, we have different dosages and therefore we can go from three milligrams up to dosages of twenty milligrams of nicotine per sachet. By way of comparison, when we consume a cigarette, we have between one and two milligrams of nicotine. nicotine per smoked cigarette”, explains Adrien Meunier, tobacconist nurse at the CHR de la Citadelle in Liège to the Belgian site RTL Info.

Gateway to cigarettes?

More and more health professionals are warning about the health dangers of snus or its American cousin, snuff (or dipping). If this form of tobacco would not cause lung cancer like cigarettes, it could create cancers of the mouth, pharynx and pancreas, as well as intestinal and dental problems, not to mention the risk of lesions at the level of the gum because of irritating tobacco.

And even the tobacco-free version of snus remains a problem. If this substitute would cause less damage to health than cigarettes, it raises the question of addiction to nicotine, the chemical substance that makes tobacco addictive. For several decades, health policies have been implemented in several countries to keep young people away from cigarettes. With some success. Over the past thirty years, the prevalence of smoking has decreased by 26% among French people aged 15 to 24, according to a study by The Lancet. The image of cigarettes has also become outdated.

But as the classic cigarette gets bad press, more “fun”-looking alternatives have appeared on the market, such as puffs (disposable electronic cigarettes with tastes appealing to young people). Snus relies on quite similar marketing. It is available in a wide variety of flavors and packaged in colorful boxes.

There remains the problem of nicotine addiction which makes doctors fear that these young people who have become addicted to this substance come more easily to cigarettes. Not to mention the increased cardiovascular risks and the additives present in the various perfumes whose consequences on health are not fully known.