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Tag: Sweden

  • Sweden Approaching ‘Smoke-Free’ Goal

    Sweden Approaching ‘Smoke-Free’ Goal

    Delon Human | Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Smoking in Sweden has fallen to 5.6 percent, making Sweden the only European nation close to reaching the smoke-free goal set by the EU ahead of the 2040 target, Swedish authorities confirmed, according to BusinessWire.

    According to participants in an event organized by the Oral Nicotine Commission in Stockholm, Sweden is about to become the first country in the world to be defined as “smoke-free,” representing a share of less than 5 percent of the population smoking.

    Sweden’s smoking rates have plunged since the 1980s from 35 percent to below 6 percent. The next lowest smoking rate in Europe is double that of Sweden’s, with the EU average sitting around 23 percent, four times higher than in Sweden.

    “If all smokers in the world, some 1.1 billion people, would switch to one of [the] less harmful alternative smoke-free, nicotine-based products, it could prevent disease and save millions of lives worldwide. Sweden has found the fire escape for smokers. We need to work together to repeat the Swedish experience globally to save lives,” said Delon Human, president of Health Diplomats and organizer of the Oral Nicotine Commission event.

    “The upcoming Swedish EU presidency is a great opportunity to share their 5 percent success story to other EU countries,” said Karl Fagerstrom, professor, at the event. “We hope that Sweden will be generous with sharing this know-how internationally.”

    Speakers at the conference emphasized the need for sound evidence-based policy interventions in tobacco control.

  • Snus Lovers up in Arms After EU Tax Proposal

    Snus Lovers up in Arms After EU Tax Proposal

    Photo: Marko Hannula

    Swedish snus lovers are up in arms after the publication of a leaked document suggesting the EU wants to force Sweden to raise the tax on snus by 200 percent.

    The document, which was seen by the Swedish daily Aftonbladet, contains proposals for a new excise tax on tobacco.

    If the plan becomes reality, the price of a can of portioned snus could increase by approximately SEK34 ($3.26). The price of a can of loose snus would increase by approximately SEK62 compared to today. A can of General loose snus would cost over SEK120 under the proposal.

    Patrik Hildingsson, head of communications at Swedish Match, said that while Swedes are accustomed to high tax rates, the leaked EU proposal goes too far. He urged the Swedish government to make it clear to Brussels that Sweden alone regulates snus.

    “Imagine if the EU decided to raise the tax on Italian Parma ham or German beer. This is basically the same thing,” Hildingsson was quoted as saying by Aftonbladet. “In the snus issue, the EU has chosen to disregard the principle of member state self-determination.”

    “To dramatically increase the tax on snus will be a deadly blow to tobacco harm reduction and can make users go back to smoking.”

    Bengt Wiberg, founder, EUforsnus

    Meanwhile, snus advocates pointed to the health impact of snus, which is considerably less risky than other tobacco products.

    “The Swedish Experience of snus has made Sweden almost smoke-free,” said Bengt Wiberg, founder of the EUforsnus international consumer group. “Daily smoking is now only 5 percent in Sweden as per the EU’s own Eurobarometer and thus Sweden has the lowest rate of all tobacco-caused cancers in Europe.

    “To dramatically increase the tax on snus will be a deadly blow to tobacco harm reduction and can make users go back to smoking. I am sure the Swedish liberal/conservative government will even consider using its veto right within EU to stop this proposal.”

    Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson indicated she would oppose the proposed tax hikes.

    While snus is banned in the EU, Sweden obtained an exemption on cultural grounds when it joined the union in 1995. In the following years, however, the EU has made several attempts to restrict snus sales in Sweden, according to Aftonbladet.

    The recent leaked proposal is scheduled to be published in early December. It must then be discussed and decided by the EU member states.

  • Sweden: Lawmakers Reject Vape Flavor Ban

    Sweden: Lawmakers Reject Vape Flavor Ban

    Photo: WDnet Studio

    Sweden’s Parliament, the Riksdag, rejected a ban on sales of flavored vaping products, with 177 lawmakers voting against the proposal and 126 lawmakers voting in favor, reports Vaping360.

    Introduced by the government’s Ministry of Social Affairs in late February, the new rules would have taken effect next January, and would have prohibited flavors other than tobacco in all e-liquid, including zero-nicotine vape juice.

    In rejecting the proposal, lawmakers heeded the advice of the Riksdag’s social affairs committee, which had recommended adopting proposed regulations for nicotine pouches and synthetic nicotine but eliminating the flavor ban.

    Seven other European countries have banned non-tobacco vape flavors. In Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary and Ukraine, flavored vape restrictions are currently in place. Lithuania’s flavor ban will take effect July 1. In the Netherlands, the flavor prohibition scheduled to begin in July has been postponed until January 2023.

    No European country has banned vaping products outright.

  • Vapers Petition Lawmakers to Stop Swedish Flavor Ban

    Vapers Petition Lawmakers to Stop Swedish Flavor Ban

    WVA Director Michael Landl holds an open letter to the Swedish parliament about the benefits of vape flavors. (Photo: WVA)

    The global vaping advocacy group World Vapers Alliance (WVA) on May 24 delivered an open letter to the Swedish parliament urging policymakers to stop a pending ban on flavors

    A day later, the WVA marched in front of the Parliament with the slogan “Flavours help smokers quit” and urged lawmakers to vote against the ban.

    Earlier this year, the Swedish government introduced a bill that would prohibit all non-tobacco vape flavors in nicotine and non-nicotine products. If approved, the bill is set to enter into force on Jan. 1, 2023.

    “I benefited firsthand from vaping and managed to stay smokefree for the last few years,” said Michael Landl, director of the WVA, in a statement. “Like most other smokers, I tried to find a way out of cigarettes—but nothing worked for me—the patches, the gums, the inhalers. Vaping—and especially combined with flavors—was my savior. And like me there are millions around the world who are healthier and lead a better life because of vaping.”

    According to Landl, the ban on vape flavors will have disastrous consequences on public health:

    “According to Yale School of Public Health, vaping flavored e-cigarettes are associated with a 230 percent increase in the odds of adult smoking cessation,” he said. “If vape flavors were banned, more than 150.000 swedes could be pushed back to smoking, which goes against any public health authority.”

  • Sweden Wants to Prohibit Flavored Vapes

    Sweden Wants to Prohibit Flavored Vapes

    The Swedish government has proposed a ban on nontobacco-flavored vapes, including menthol, according to Vaping360.

    The proposed law includes nicotine and non-nicotine e-liquid and regulates all synthetic nicotine products, setting the purchase age to 18. If the law is passed, the sale of flavored vape products will be banned effective Jan. 1, 2023.

    The bill is currently being reviewed by the Council on Legislation, which considers the legal validity of proposed bills before they are considered by legislators. Parliament will vote on the bill as early as March 22.

    If the bill is passed, Sweden will be the eighth European country to prohibit flavors, following Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ukraine, Denmark, Lithuania and the Netherlands.

  • Crows Trained to Pick up Cigarette Butts

    Crows Trained to Pick up Cigarette Butts

    Photo: Eric Isselée

    A Swedish company is deploying crows to pick up discarded cigarette butts from the streets and squares of a town near Stockholm as part of a cost-cutting drive, reports The Guardian.

    The wild birds receive a little food for every butt that they deposit in a customized machine.

    Christian Günther-Hanssen, the founder of Corvid Cleaning, the company behind the method, estimates that his method could save at least 75 percent of the costs associated with picking up cigarette butts in the city.

    More than 1 billion cigarette butts are left on Sweden’s streets each year, representing 62 percent of all litter, according to The Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation says that. Södertälje spends SEK 20 million ($2.19 million) on street cleaning.

    Södertälje is carrying out a pilot project before potentially rolling out the operation across the city, with the health of the birds being the key consideration given the type of waste involved.

    New Caledonian crows, a member of the corvid family of birds, are as good at reasoning as a human seven-year-old, research has suggested, making them the smartest birds for the job.

    “They are easier to teach and there is also a higher chance of them learning from each other,” said Günther-Hanssen. “At the same time, there’s a lower risk of them mistakenly eating any rubbish.

    Tomas Thernström, a waste strategist at Södertälje municipality, said the potential of the pilot depended on financing.

    “It would be interesting to see if this could work in other environments as well. Also from the perspective that we can teach crows to pick up cigarette butts, but we can’t teach people not to throw them on the ground. That’s an interesting thought,” he said.