The Norwegian government wants to ban the online sales of snus, as part of a new tobacco strategy, a move which for obvious reasons experts are calling counterproductive.

Norway’s new tobacco strategy was included in a public health report released on March 31st. Secretary General of the Association of Swedish Snus Manufacturers Patrik Strömer, said that many of the restrictions mentioned in this tobacco strategy are similar to the ones implemented in Sweden and have likely contributed to Sweden’s renowned success with decreasing smoking rates. However, he added, the factor that made these measures successful in Sweden is the availability of smoke-free alternatives such as snus and nicotine pouches.

Stromer is referring to the fact that Sweden has reached an impressive Smokefree status thanks to endorsing the use of safer nicotine alternatives, namely snus. Sadly Norway seems to be ignoring this very crucial detail and is instead asking for harsher regulations on the products.

Sweden’s impressive results thanks to snus

Subsequently, a more recent report highlighted that in the coming months the smoking rate in Sweden will be dropping below 5% and details the approach which led to this success. Anders Milton, one of the report’s authors, highlighted that if other EU countries copied Sweden’s strategy, the situation in Europe would look different.

Last October, Norway’s Health Minister approved a health label warning pregnant women on the dangers of using snus whilst expecting. The label listing the side effects of using snus during pregnancy was approved by Ingvild Kjerkol (AP), Norway’s Minister for Health and Care Services who said that there have been issues with many young women starting with snus, as they are unable to stop when they become pregnant.

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