Strong Defence of Pouches Launched
Sweden launches a strong defence of safer alternatives for Europe, according to public health experts at Smoke Free Sweden
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by Dave Cross
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The Swedish government has formally issued a strong defence of nicotine pouches in a bid to halt excessive restrictions on safer alternatives to cigarettes across Europe. In a statement to the European Commission, it says: “Cigarettes and smoking tobacco pose a greater health risk than smokeless tobacco and nicotine products such as snus.”
The statement, made in Sweden’s formal objection to Spain’s proposed ban on nicotine pouches, underscores the country’s longstanding public health strategy of reducing tobacco-related harm.
Through its policy of giving adult smokers access to safer smoke-free alternatives, including snus, nicotine pouches and vapes, Sweden has delivered the lowest smoking and lung cancer rates in the EU.
The Spanish proposal, which sets a near-zero nicotine limit of 0.99 mg per pouch and includes a ban on non-tobacco flavours, has been challenged by Sweden and five other countries - Romania, Czechia, Croatia, Greece and Italy - representing almost 115 million EU citizens.
Sweden says that Spain's proposal would undermine effective harm reduction strategies by restricting access to safer alternatives.
The Swedish government adds: “To the extent that snus replaces the consumption of cigarettes, the use of the product is considered to be a positive development from a public health perspective.”
Dr. Delon Human, a global health advocate and leader of Smoke Free Sweden, said: “Sweden is leading Europe toward a smoke-free future because it embraces safer alternatives. Spain’s proposal would reverse that progress and export prohibitionist policies that ignore science and success.
“Banning these products while cigarettes remain legal is not only counterproductive, but dangerously misleading.”
The six Detailed Opinions submitted to the Commission temporarily block Spain’s draft regulation and require a formal response within three months.
Dr. Human added: “This strong resistance from six EU governments sends a clear message: smokers deserve access to safer alternatives, and countries that are successfully reducing smoking rates must not be forced to follow the failures of others.
“If the Spanish draft sets a benchmark for the next Tobacco Products Directive, it risks imposing prohibitionist policies on the entire bloc - policies that ignore science, consumer choice and public health success stories."
A scoping review published in April this year looked at sixty-two studies, including 17 that were industry-funded.
The researchers said: “The chemical composition of oral nicotine pouches suggests fewer harmful/potentially harmful compounds at lower levels than cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, except formaldehyde. Industry-funded studies find substantially less cytotoxicity compared to cigarettes and suggest that higher nicotine-strength oral nicotine pouches can deliver nicotine at levels comparable to or higher than smokeless tobacco or cigarettes, although with slower nicotine release than cigarettes.”
Smoke Free Sweden is a movement which encourages other countries to follow the Swedish model when it comes to Tobacco Harm Reduction. Sweden’s smoke-free success can be attributed to its open attitude towards regulated alternative nicotine products.
References:
- Smoke Free Sweden - www.smokefreesweden.org
Photo Credit:
Photo by Swenico on Unsplash, resized and cropped
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
