Snus use beats smoking

The use of snus has been a major factor behind Sweden’s record-low prevalence of smoking and the country’s recording the lowest level of tobacco-related mortality among men in Europe, according to a study by researchers in Sweden and Australia.

The study, Patterns of Smoking and Snus Use in Sweden: Implications for Public Health, was based on a data set for the period January 2003 to February 2011 from a long-term study covering nationally representative samples of the Swedish population aged 18–79, with a total study population of 60,675 individuals.

According to a study abstract, those who began daily tobacco use using snus were much less likely to subsequently take up smoking than were those who had not, both among males (17.6 percent vs. 45.9 percent), and females (8.2 percent vs. 40.2 percent).

‘Further, among those who started using snus after starting as smokers, 76.3 percent of men and 71.6 percent of women had stopped smoking completely, including 31.5 percent of the men and 28.6 percent of the women who had quit all forms of tobacco,’ the abstract said.

‘Indeed, those who were primary snus users were also more likely to have quit altogether than those who only ever smoked.

‘Snus was also reported as the most common smoking cessation aid among men and yielded higher success rates than nicotine replacement therapy and other alternatives.’

In conclusion, the researchers said that snus had both contributed to decreasing initiation of smoking and, when used subsequent to smoking, appeared to facilitate smoking cessation.

‘All these effects suggest that the availability and use of snus has been a major factor behind Sweden’s record-low prevalence of smoking and the lowest level of tobacco-related mortality among men in Europe,’ they said.

The study was published in: Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016.