Bad snus news in Canada

[TropicalBob]

Snus is going to face rough going in Canada, too.

Butt Out, For Once
If The Anti-Tobacco Lobby Is Anything, It's Loud. Too Bad All That Huffing And Puffing Has Blinded It To The Value Of A Harm-Reduction Product For Nicotine Addicts Who Simply Can't Quit

Kevin Libin, National Post
Canada has been fighting big tobacco so long, perhaps it doesn't know how to do anything else -- even if tobacco manufacturers may be on to something that could give smokers longer, healthier lives. Recently, Imperial Tobacco made Edmonton a test market for a cigarette-replacement product that dramatically reduces risks of heart disease and cancer. Were this product made by Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson, it might have earned endorsements from health officials. Consumers might have even heard about it, since drug firms are freer to advertise than tobacco makers. Instead, the experiment was a dud. Most smokers never learned of "snus," and that may be the end of an unusual, novel product in Canada.

In America, meantime, RJ Reynolds just launched a glitzy, national rollout of snus under its Camel cigarette brand. "Your cigarettes may get jealous," says the full-page ad in magazines like People, Rolling Stone and Sports Illustrated. Indeed, they might: Snus, a low-carcinogen tobacco contained in a pouch tucked under the lip, is vastly safer than smoking, independent research asserts. Over the past decade, it rapidly replaced cigarettes in Sweden, its birthplace, driving cancer and heart-disease rates to the lowest in Europe. University of Michigan's Tobacco Research Network director says of snus, "There is no compelling evidence that it has any adverse health consequences." Harvard's Tobacco Control Research Group last year said that switching every smoker to a smokeless product like snus would be a "public health miracle."

So why not here? For all our punitive tobacco taxes and bans, there remains a stubborn, significant rump of people -- about one in five Canadians -- who still smoke. They are why some epidemiologists study tobacco "harm reduction": If we can't make people quit the weed, they ask, can we at least make it safer? They've found smokeless tobacco, especially snus, offers an answer. Unfortunately, for those fixated on battling tobacco makers, it's one they don't want to hear.

One University of Alberta epidemiologist is the target of a campaign by antitobacco activists pushing to have him fired for studying snus harm reduction. The World Health Organization advises members to restrict smokeless tobacco with the same vigour as cigarettes, leading many European countries to ban snus trials. Canada, meanwhile, severely limits advertising or displays of smokeless tobacco. It could soon be illegal to sell snus altogether, since it typically comes in flavours like mint, whiskey, or apple: Politicians, including the prime minister, are vowing to ban flavoured tobacco, persuaded by anti-smoking groups that they're used like candy to lure children.

If we want to reduce tobacco-related morbidity, this is exactly the wrong approach. More smokers kick cigarettes with smokeless tobacco than with all the drugs and patches on the market, according to SmokeFree Pennsylvania, which believes health experts have an "ethical duty" to recommend safer, smokeless products like snus to nicotine addicts. Tobacco companies, having finally found a growth product they can morally stand behind, are plowing millions into getting smokers to switch. (Besides RJ Reynolds, Philip Morris recently entered a joint snus venture with Swedish Match.) If they succeed, Americans may one day realize that elusive public health miracle. Canadian policy makers, on the other hand, keep blindly fighting Big Tobacco -- an industry that may have a solution to the very health problem it helped create.

[Frankie]

I liked snus while it lasted, but I beg to differ with the author. Implying there are no health consequences for abusing a stimulant drug is plain stupid in my opinion. There are risks and consequences including higher (double?) death rate for snusers with cardiovascular problems compared to non-snusers with the same problems. Which is sort of understandable as snus increases blood pressure for some people. Like me

[iggyLover]

I started having problems with high blood pressure as a smoker last year.
Since I quit smoking in March and started using snus my blood pressure is perfect. I check blood pressure weekly and it has always been fine.
I'm thrilled!

[Kitabz]

There are risks and consequences including higher (double?) death rate for snusers with cardiovascular problems compared to non-snusers with the same problems. Which is sort of understandable as snus increases blood pressure for some people. Like me

Source: Smokeless tobacco and your health. (tobaccoharmreduction.org)
The available evidence shows that if there is any risk from smokeless tobacco, it is low, less than a 20% increase (for comparison, smoking is estimated to roughly double this risk, a 100% increase). This is potentially more important than a similar percentage increase in oral cancer risk, since cardiovascular disease is a lot more common. If the risk of cardiovascular disease increases by as much as 20% then smokeless tobacco might cause 3% or 4% of the risk associated with smoking. That is still a lot better than smoking, of course, but worse than one percent. Fortunately, most of the evidence suggests that nicotine without the smoke is not actually quite that bad. But it would be useful to do more research to find out more. Unlike with oral cancer, there is not enough available research about cardiovascular disease for us to feel entirely comfortable in our conclusions.

Of course, the risk increase above is for the general population, not for smokeless tobacco users with cardiovascular problems.

[NicoNut]

Great article TBob..thanks for posting.

Here we go with the save the children from flavors again!

[Joe81]

thats just gr8...still analog until i grab my 510 in a few days...i was looking for alternatives i haven't tried & snus seemed like the only thing worth trying...got my hopes up for a minute until i realized i can't seem to find any in toronto, i'm sure there's a spot but a google search won't find me anything...if anybody can find snus in toronto or places that ship to canada, tell me where! i have to try dumaurier's overpriced snus just cuz they are my analog supply...other than that, camel & lucky strike are the only other brands i know...gotta read up on some swedish snus

[Stubby]

It doesn't look as if there is anyplace in Canada you can buy it at a store front. You may want to check out this site. There has been trouble importing Swedish snus into Canada.

SnusOn.com - Snus Forum :: Index

Do some searches about it.

Another idea, but I would have no idea if it's legal or not, and if your desperate enough, is to drive to the US and buy it here. This is the store locator.

SwedishSnus.com by Swedish Match

It looks as if there is snus in Michigan.

[Father Luke]

Just curious. Sorry if I seem dumb.
Can you buy snus on the internet
if you live in Canada?

Like I said, I'm ignorant about this stuff.

[Joe81]

It doesn't look as if there is anyplace in Canada you can buy it at a store front. You may want to check out this site. There has been trouble importing Swedish snus into Canada.

SnusOn.com - Snus Forum :: Index

Do some searches about it.

Another idea, but I would have no idea if it's legal or not, and if your desperate enough, is to drive to the US and buy it here. This is the store locator.

SwedishSnus.com by Swedish Match

It looks as if there is snus in Michigan.

yea there's trouble getting anything up here, the anti-smoking laws have gone nuts...when they doubled the price of cigarettes, they claimed it was to help us cut down or whatever, sounds like more $ for them ...an old article said the overpriced dumauriers were being tested in edmonton, can't seem to find any updates or info on that...anyways, tx for the info, will check those out...

[Joe81]

Just curious. Sorry if I seem dumb.
Can you buy snus on the internet
if you live in Canada?

Like I said, I'm ignorant about this stuff.

you can, but seems the occasional order still gets rejected, much like ecigs...i heard from someone else here, there is the offchance they will let it in, but charge u an extra $25 for each pack or something ridiculous...if that happens, just reject the delivery & i guess try again...im gonna give it a try sometime soon & hopefully i'll also find someone who can go to edmonton & grab me the dumauriers...or hopefully there's a canadian vendor out there that carries snus