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METROHEALTH
Monday, October 16, 2006 METRO 17

SNUFF IT WITH THE SMOKING BAN LOOMING, JOHN HIGGINSON SNIFFS OUT THE NICOTINE ALTERNATIVES THAT ADDICTS ARE TURNING TO

What’s all the snus about?

ast week, it was announced that next year’s ban on

L smoking in bars and clubs could even stretch to the

streets outside in London’s West End. While the ban
is the perfect excuse to kick the habit, a recent survey by
Boots The Chemists found that only 18 per cent of smokers
were considering quitting before it comes into play. Will
smokers be forced to look for their stimulant hit elsewhere?
We look at some other, equally controversial, options.

he 20th century was the premises instead of cigarettes

T golden age of smoking. It and, for a while, a lot more

was cool. It was sexy. It
was cheap. It was sociable. It
stimulated conversation. You
could do it at work and at the
cinema – you could even do it
while on a plane. And then a
little thing called lung cancer
came along and spoiled the
party. But it’s no surprise we
all got hooked – according to
experts at the Royal College of
Physicians, cigarettes are as
addictive as heroin and
cocaine.
So will next year’s ban see
smokers shun cold doorways
in favour of getting their
stimulant kick elsewhere?
According to Graeme
T Steel, who set up
snuff appreciation
society Snuff Box –
The Nasal Snuff
Club in 2001, they
will.
‘Ten years ago,
snuff was dying out
in the UK,’ says Steel
of the ground tobacco
that is pinched
between the thumb Swedish snus user body,’ she said. ‘This
and forefinger and
sniffed into the nostrils. ‘It has there is a danger that people
been both an upper-class and
working-class pursuit: miners
and those working in situations
where a lit cigarette could be
dangerous have long enjoyed
snuff. But it was largely
shunned in favour of cigarettes,
cigars or pipes. Now, with the
increasing limits on where and
when you can smoke, snuff has
come into its own, especially
among cigarette smokers.’
Snuff’s enough
At Segar & Snuff Parlour, in
London’s Covent Garden, there
has been an annual rise in snuff
sales of about ten per cent since
2000.
‘We are expecting a further
increase when the ban comes
into place,’ said Segar & Snuff
manager Robert Good. ‘Snuff is
likely to be sold in licensed
people are going to experiment
as they look for alternatives
to smoking.’
Anti-smoking group Ash say
they would prefer smokers
turned to other options if they
cannot quit the cigs.
‘There is no completely safe
tobacco but around 80 per cent
of the health risks associated
with the drug come from
inhaling the smoke,’ says Ash
research manager Amanda
Sandford. ‘Bronchitis, chronic
obtrusive pulmonary disease,
carbon monoxide poisoning
and, of course, lung cancer all
come from inhaling smoke.’
In an attempt to
offset smoking’s
negative health
image, one company
– ‘Vit C’ – has come
up with the idea of
enriching cigarettes
with vitamins.
But Sandford is not
convinced. ‘Smoking
reduces the amount
of vitamins in your
is a gimmick but
will think these cigarettes are
good for you. They are not.’
Banned in the EU
One of the least dangerous
ways of taking tobacco,
according to Sandford and
many experts, has been
banned in the EU.
Snus is moist, steamed
tobacco that is rolled into a
rough ball or wrapped in
individual small pouches
(like a teabag) and put
between the gum and lip.
It was banned in the EU in
1992 after the World Health
Organisation concluded that
most oral tobacco products,
such as chewing tobacco
and tobacco-filled betel
leaves, popular in India,
were carcinogenic
(cancer causing).
Golden age: The days of
smoking being sexy, cool
and sociably acceptable
are numbered
While snus was tarnished with
the same brush, there is little
evidence that it is carcinogenic
and it is believed that the way it
is processed – steamed rather
than toasted – makes it better for
you.
Despite the EU ban, snus is
still legal in Sweden and
Norway. And Sweden, where an
estimated one in three men use
snus, has the lowest rate of
tobacco-related deaths in
Europe. In comparison, tobacco-
related deaths among Swedish
women, who rarely use snus, is
the fifth highest in Europe. As a
result, calls are getting louder
for the ban to be lifted to help
reduce cigarette smoking.
‘We would welcome a new
report by an independent body
into the possibility of lifting the
ban on snus,’ says Sandford.
‘The risks from using
smokeless tobacco are
considerably less than any
sort of smoked tobacco but
we would obviously prefer
that people did not use
tobacco in any form. There
is no safe form.’
■ Do you want to quit
smoking? Call
0800 002 200
for your nearest
help group.
www.ash.org.uk

OTHER SMOKING ALTERNATIVES

■ Patches are intended to help
wean smokers off cigarettes but
some users have become
addicted to them and experience
vivid dreams when wearing them.
There are a few cases in which
nicotine addicts who failed to
follow doctor’s orders died from
heart failure after applying
multiple patches and then
smoking and consuming alcohol.
■ NicoShot was released
last year in the US and
should be available in
Britain soon. It is a bottle of
beer with 3mg of nicotine in
it. Three cans are the
equivalent of smoking one
pack of cigarettes.
■ Chewing tobacco is
the oldest way of taking
tobacco but it will give you
brown teeth and gums, ulcers
and increase your risk of
mouth cancer.
■ Betel leaves have mild
medicinal qualities and have
been chewed in Asia for
thousands of years. Chewed
between the cheek and
gums, they blacken your
teeth and increase your risk
of mouth cancer.

Edited by LISA SCOTT health@ukmetro.co.uk