Speaking of snus, three members of the Swedish Parliament recently wrote a letter to the editor of the Swedish newspaper Göteborgs-Posten, requesting that the E.U. lift the ban against Swedish snus. The writers argue that, while the E.U. considers the sale of snus outside of Sweden illicit, all other oral tobacco products are fully legal and loosely regulated — a policy that, Dr. Ross says, is among the most ironic. Why should Swedish snus be prohibited when as many as 50 million Europeans have tried oral tobacco in the past year and between five and ten million use some form of smokeless tobacco daily? Even the E.U.’s own scientific experts determined in 2008 that Swedish snus is 90 percent less harmful than cigarette smoking, with no increase in risk for smoking-related lung cancer compared to the general population.
The ban was instituted as a bargain made in 1992 in order to allow Sweden to enter the E.U., but now, “political rather than health concerns keep this ridiculous ban in place. It should be lifted immediately, and hopefully the new Swedish pressure manifested in this letter will supply the necessary momentum for the E.U. to revoke the ban,” says Dr. Ross.