Abolishing subsidies to the Non Smoking Generation, higher taxes on snus and a generational ban on nicotine purchases. These are some of the proposals that the Social Democratic Youth Union (SSU) will consider during its congress in fall 2023.
Issues of nicotine and harm reduction will take place during the SSU congress in the fall of 2023, according to the consumer magazine The Snuff Courier after motions and proposals have been public before the Congress.
"The Congress' decisions are crucial for the issues SSU will pursue in the coming year and also affect how the parent party acts in the future" states The Snuff Courier.
And it is clear that the SSU districts have been influenced by the ongoing debate on nicotine and snus, not only in Sweden but also internationally. SSU Gothenburg area wants to raise the tax so that 70% of the price of a can of snus is tax. Today the tax is 49%.
Generation ban - but not like New Zealand
The SSU Gothenburg area is also taking a prohibitionist line, not only equating snus and nicotine pouches with cigarettes but also banning people born after a certain year from ever buying nicotine.
As Vejpkollen previously reported, a similar project is currently underway in New Zealand. The difference with the SSU District proposal is that not all nicotine products are included in the New Zealand generational ban. The New Zealand model is based on the principle of harm reduction. According to the authorities, it aims to reduce cigarette smoking by indirectly promote less harmful nicotine alternatives to smoking. For example, e-cigarettes may still sold with a traditional age limit.
Damage minimization from Skaraborg
Harm reduction in politics shines through in a proposal from SSU Skaraborg. According to the District, the tax on nicotine products should be related to the risk of harm.
"Skaraborgarna proposes that the relative risks should regulate the tax. A cigarette, which is more dangerous than a snus, would then have a higher tax than the prill" writes The snuffbox.
No money for Non Smoking Generation
According to SSU Skaraborg SSU should also work to remove the state contribution to organizations such as Non Smoking Generation. Snus is considered by SSU Skaraborg to be a harm-reducing product and the justification for the reform is, among other things, that NSG actively counteracts snus as a product and thus risks increasing the number of smokers in Sweden.
"In step with the times, SSU Skaraborg proposes that tax money in the form of grants should not be given to organizations that disadvantage society, in this case public health" reports Snuskuriren.
(S) critical of harm reduction
SSU currently has 21,000 members and is Sweden's second largest youth organization. The parent party, the Social Democrats, has long had a negative view of harm reduction and nicotine products that compete with cigarettes. Just last year, the Social Democrats proposed ban on flavorings in e-liquid, something that was voted down in Parliament. At the same time, the party wants to put all nicotine products with cigarettes in terms of harmfulness and is close to interest and lobby organizations such as Tobacco facts and Non Smoking Generation on the issue.
The Congress will take place from August 4 to 7 in Norrköping.
