The Ministry of Health in Finland wants to ban all imports of snus. This was made clear after the ministry submitted a proposal to the government this week. The goal is a nicotine-free Finland by 2030.
The problem is that more and more Finns are choosing to use snus and the black market is growing.
"A ridiculous proposal" says snus smoker Jussi Tapio to Swedish Radio.
The Finnish Ministry of Health wants to ban all private imports of snus into the country. The proposal is part of the government's goal to make Finland nicotine-free by 2030. It is already illegal to sell and buy snus in Finland. However, despite strict rules, 6% of men use snus regularly and 0.6% of women.
Finland's hard line on nicotine
Finland is known as the EU country with the most restrictive policy on cigarettes, but also on alternative nicotine products. This applies in particular to e-cigarettes and various snus products.
Snus was already banned in 1995 when Finland joined the EU. Flavorings in e-liquid, except what authorities call tobacco maker, are banned since 2016, as well as online sales, and therefore imports, of virtually all vejp products.
The white snuff regulated as medicines and sold by pharmaceutical companies. Regular nicotine pouches, without tobacco and with a nicotine content above 4 mg, can only be brought into the country if the user has a prescription from a doctor.
More people use snus despite ban
At the same time, the use of both white and traditional snus is increasing in the country. Not least among young people, who by law are not even allowed to possess the products before their 18th birthday. According to Finnish authorities and many anti-tobacco groups, sales to young people take place on a large black market via social media. The EU now wants to tackle this by tightening import bans.
"It's a ridiculous proposal. It's through the black market that kids get snus today, so why would a ban reduce that?" says the snus user Jussi Tapio to P4 Norrbotten when Swedish Radio noticed the proposal at a border shop in Haparanda.
"Gives criminals a bigger market"
According to Jussi Tapio criminalization only leads to an increase in organized smuggling from Sweden to Finland.
"It just gives criminals a bigger market. Besides causing new serious problems, an import ban would likely increase use among young people instead. In addition, the government would lose all the tax revenue it currently receives from legal imports." Jussi Tapio to Swedish Radio P4.
Fewer smokers with snus and e-cigs
According to statistics on smoking-related diseases (such as lung cancer and cardiovascular problems), nearly 5000 Finns annually because of smoking. Currently, almost 13% of the Finnish population smokes. This compares to 6% in Sweden and 9% in Norway, where the sale of snus (and in Sweden also e-cigarettes and e-liquid with nicotine) is allowed. I In Sweden, 26% of men use snus, and 9% of women respectively.
Is it true that Finland has a "snus ban" in public places?😅 Yes, if you can "ban" vejp in various outdoor places such as outdoor cafes and platforms, you can of course make snus verboten as well. It's like we're dealing with hard-core totalitarian fanatics with no respect whatsoever for personal freedom and people's bodily autonomy. From a purely scientific point of view, it is of course impossible to claim that there is anything equivalent to "passive smoking" for vejp or snus.
Oops, two sentences got merged there :-). No, it is not forbidden to use snus in public places. Yet.
Yes, it's only a matter of time before such a "ban" is introduced 🙂
"Puritanism makes you free!"
Of course, the idea of Finland becoming 'nicotine-free' is completely preposterous. Humans have been using tobacco and nicotine as far back as 12,000 years among the indigenous peoples of North and South America. Interestingly, these forms of tobacco use were more similar to snuff, pipes and cigars. The modern cigarette, on the other hand, is the only real uniquely harmful tobacco product where you deliberately inhale smoke from burning tobacco. It was invented towards the end of the 19th century. Now there is a good replacement for it, the e-cig. So there is no reason to oppose it.