Snus Is Coming to America

From the New York Times:

Cooling his heels outside a popular nightclub here recently, Jesper Froberg stubbed out his cigarette and reached for a less harmful pleasure: smokeless tobacco, neatly packed in tiny pouches that look like miniature used tea bags.

"I’m really concerned about my health," said Mr. Froberg, a maître d’hôtel, who tries to limit his smoking. "This stuff is safer than cigarettes, it’s discreet, and it’s really good."

Now this form of tobacco is coming to America, in the midst of an intensifying debate over how to define "reduced risk" tobacco products and how to market them. On Wednesday, a House committee is scheduled to hold hearings on whether the Food and Drug Administration should be given the power to regulate tobacco.

Snus (rhymes with loose) is a moist ground tobacco that a user tucks between the cheek and the gum. Unlike chewing tobacco and moist smokeless tobacco—commonly known as dip—snus requires no spitting. Thanks partly to its popularity here, Sweden has the lowest smoking rates in Europe. It also has fewer incidences than its neighbors of smoking-related diseases, including lung and oral cancer.

My husband is a snuser. It’s far better than smoking, although I personally think it smells bad and gives the users’ teeth a brownish colour they could do without. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone not already addicted to nicotine.

I wrote about snus and its health aspects on 20 July.