Tag: Iceland

Icelandic Snuff Sales Hurt By Pouches

Photo: Burtsc
Rising sales of nicotine pouches are depressing demand for snuff in Iceland, reports Iceland Review, citing comments made by State Alcohol and Tobacco Co. Director Sveinn Víkingur Arnason.
Iceland began producing snuff in 1941, and consumption peaked in 2019, when 46 tons were produced and sold domestically. Since then, the trend has been steadily downwards, with only 10 tons of snuff tobacco sold in 2023.
While snuff is intended for nasal use, surveys have shown that it has been used predominantly orally in Iceland, which prohibits the sale and production of chewing tobacco.
The decline in snuff sales has been driven in part by the growing popularity of nicotine pouches, which at ISK40 ($0.29) per gram are significantly cheaper than snuff. Snuff tobacco sold by the State Alcohol and Tobacco Co. sells for around ISK80 per gram.
The main reason for this price difference is the fact that nicotine pouches and snuff tobacco fall under different tax schedules.
Arnason said he expects the downward trend in snuff sales to continue.
May 24, 2024
Iceland Mulls New Restrictions on Nicotine

Photo: Buttenkow
Iceland’s Office of Health Promotion and Science launched a consultation on a draft law on nicotine products, which, if passed, would introduce age limits for nicotine consumption, ban e-cigarette flavors perceived to appeal to children and stipulate a permissible maximum nicotine concentration.
Currently, the minimum purchase age for vapes in Iceland is 18, and the proposed bill would implement the same age limit for other nicotine products.
Iceland currently has an adult smoking rate of 7 percent, the lowest in Europe apart from Sweden.
According to Filter, the misinterpretation that nicotine consumption and smoking go hand-in-hand has distorted perceptions. “Nicotine is not the cause of death from smoking,” according to Yorkshire Cancer Research in England. “Nicotine is not a carcinogen; there is no evidence that sustained use of nicotine alone increases cancer risk. Of the three main causes of death from smoking (lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cardiovascular disease), none are caused by nicotine. The harm from smoking comes from the thousands of other chemicals in tobacco smoke.”
March 21, 2022
Mid-life crisis
Icelandic women typically smoke less, drink to drunkenness less, and use oral tobacco less often than do Icelandic men, according to a story in the tourist publication, Reykjavik Grapevine citing the findings of a recent study by Iceland’s Directorate of Health.
At the same time, young Icelandic women vape just as often as young Icelandic men.
The study, which covered Icelandic men and women of all ages, found that the incidence of daily smoking combustible cigarettes among people 18 to 55 years of age was, at nine percent, slightly higher among men than it was among women, eight percent.
But 11 percent of women aged 55 and older reported smoking daily while seven percent of men in the same age group did so.
Meanwhile, 20 percent of Icelandic men aged 18 to 34 reported using oral tobacco daily or less often, while seven percent of women in the same age group reported oral tobacco use. Among those aged 35 to 54, five percent of men used oral tobacco while no women reported using it. No man of woman over the age of 55 reported using oral tobacco.
The incidence of vaping daily or less often among those aged 18-34 was, at 12 percent, the same for both men and women. In the 35-to-54 age bracket, the incidence of vaping among men was 11 percent while that among women was six percent. But in the case of those 55 or older, five percent of women and two percent of men said they vaped daily or less often.
February 12, 2019
Smoking frozen out
An Icelandic doctor has credited vaping with contributing to a dramatic decline in the number of smokers in Iceland, according to a story by Paul Fontaine for grapevine.is.
Guðmundur Karl Snæbjörnsson described vaping as “a great blessing” for Icelanders’ health.
In 2014, 14 percent of the population or 35,000 people self-identified as smokers, figures that had fallen to nine percent and 22,000 by 2017.
The 37 percent drop in the number of smokers was attributable in part to an increase in vaping, Guðmundur told reporters.
Cigarette sales had dropped by 50 percent from 2008 to 2017, while vaping had been on the rise, and now, about 20,000 Icelanders vaped daily or less frequently.
“Smoking has been falling like a rock like we’ve never seen before,” Guðmundur was reported to have said. “The biggest contributing factors have been mouth-tobacco and vaping, which have clearly been wiping smoking out.”
Iceland currently has no clearly defined laws about the contents, sale and distribution of vaping products.
Although a bill was introduced last year that set limits on e-fluid strength and quantities; that bill was strongly opposed by vape shop owners and ended up dying in committee.
March 15, 2018