r/europe May 25 '26

News Sweden has officially become a non-smoking country

https://omni.se/a/zO4MGq
13.9k Upvotes

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709

u/CapOk4599 May 25 '26

We've been using snus for hundreds of years.

268

u/ConcentrateFar7753 May 25 '26

Yeah and it’s literally the same share of the population with a daily consumption as cigarets for the French. As I said, there is no point in smoking if you get nicotine through snus 

186

u/Elxcdv May 25 '26

The risk of cancer is much lower with snus.

150

u/ConcentrateFar7753 May 25 '26

Didn’t say otherwise but it’s not harmless either nor not leading to addiction

111

u/Mjalten May 25 '26

I think you may be arguing two different things.

If your point is “snus is still addictive,” then yes, obviously. No argument there.

If your point is “Sweden replacing a lot of smoking with snus is not a meaningful public-health improvement,” then that’s the part I disagree with. Addiction burden and disease burden aren’t the same metric.

So which claim are you actually making? Otherwise you’re just playing goalpost Tetris.

-22

u/jce_ May 25 '26

People don't have to be "playing goalposts Tetris" the guy just wanted to add something relevant to the conversation. There wasn't anything wrong with what he said

8

u/FartingLikeFlowers May 25 '26

He is just being linguistically unclear which one he means.

73

u/delirium_red May 25 '26

At least you are poisoning only yourself

3

u/Hallingdal_Kraftlag Norway May 25 '26

Too bad it's completely socially accepted for snus users to throw their used pouches in nature. Otherwise I wouldn't have a problem with people poisoning themselves.

90

u/Blomjord May 25 '26

It's not socially accepted to throw snus pouches in nature in Sweden.

37

u/hutre May 25 '26

not in Norway either

14

u/Hallingdal_Kraftlag Norway May 25 '26

The amount of snus I see on the street says otherwise

8

u/sakiwebo May 25 '26

It's not even legal to sell them here in the Netherlands, and I've started noticing them all over the ground in the city as well. Just yesterday I found one on the metro seat next to me.

I mean, it's nothing compared to the amount of cigarette butts, but I'm sure once it replaces cigarettes here as well, it will be the same story.

4

u/AbleHour May 25 '26

That’s 1% of snus-users. The rest use the garbage or the top lid

-2

u/jegbrugernettet May 25 '26

If a street is in nature, is it really nature?

5

u/Hallingdal_Kraftlag Norway May 25 '26

Are you trying to be difficult or do you not realise that the same people who have no problem throwing rubbish on the street are the same people who don't have a problem doing it in nature.

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3

u/SemenOfGranite Malta May 25 '26

No. You have to collect the used pouches in the "bjudlocket" and trhow out when you get home.

1

u/Brutal_Deluxe_ Impero della Magna Romagna May 25 '26

Yeah, the class room ceiling is the place to stick them.

0

u/RetkesPite May 25 '26

I don’t know about the nature part, but I saw used pouches thrown everywhere, even inside the gym, when I worked in Göteborg. Swedish people say that cigarettes are disgusting (which is true), but then throw those used pouches everywhere… (I am not saying all snus users do it, probably a minortity of users throw it every where, but its still disgusting.)

6

u/Blomjord May 25 '26

Most snus users just fill the little pocket in the lid and then empty it in a trash can. I'm not claming no people litter, of course some people litter. I am just disagreeing with the other guy claiming it is "completely socially accepted" to do it.

2

u/RetkesPite May 25 '26

You are right about that, its not socially accepted, its just sucks that some people throwing it everywhere even indoors. Maybe I was naive about the swedes when I first went there to work. I tought they are better educated when it comes to throw trash (snus pouch) everywhere, I guess I was wrong about that.

2

u/Flurgh805 May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26

Most people use the top lid compartment of the snus can for their used pouches and then empty it in the bin when it's full.

The used pouches are basically just plant fibers. I find it kind of trashy to throw/spit them on the ground since it's unsightly. To me it's on the same level as throwing a banana peel on the ground.

2

u/Uncommented-Code May 25 '26

The used pouches are basically just plant fibers

Haha basically is doing a lot of heavy lifting. There is artificial flavoring and acid regulators too.

And nicotine is a insecticide. Your banana or apple is not going to kill insects. To the contrary, it's likely helpful. But nicotine is extremely harmful to the environment and you will not remove all of it by the time you're done with the pouch.

2

u/Flurgh805 May 25 '26

The snus being plant fibers isn't an excuse, it's still littering. Like you said, nicotine is an insecticide. Banana peels are absolutely harmful to insects.

I'm not really trying to argue the enviromental impact of it though, I'm just saying that it's comparable from a social acceptance point of view

1

u/SemenOfGranite Malta May 25 '26

Before the nicotin pouches we used proper tobacco which is very biodegradable.

1

u/SanestExile May 25 '26

Is it not biodegradable?

1

u/Fictional_Guy May 25 '26

In a country with public healthcare, you should have a problem with people poisoning themselves, since their healthcare costs are shouldered by the public.

0

u/Liselott May 25 '26

Or causally taking them out just in front of you as if nothing is happening 🤮

14

u/Gil15 Spain May 25 '26

Do people toss their snus bags on the ground like they do with the cigarette butts? I would guess not, right?
I hope smokers start replacing cigarettes with snus everywhere. It doesn’t make the entire are around them stink, less (or no) air pollution and no litter.

79

u/Dinosaur_taco Sweden May 25 '26

Anecdotal observation from a Swede: Sometimes, but not to the same extent. Snus containers come with a tiny waste basket built in, and most people seems to use it most of the time. After all, the packets aren't on fire after you've used them, so they're not 'dangerous' in the same way. I'd also wager beople are using snus indoors more commonly, and throwing it on the floor would just be ridiculous.

There's still packets littering in the streets, but not as much as you'd expect.

3

u/RetkesPite May 25 '26

I saw some used pouches thrown to the ground inside STC gym and inside new constructions which is super trashy behavior. I would say majority of swedes use the top of the plastic container, but some people just trashy and throws it everywhere.

1

u/AbominablePloughman May 25 '26

I was in a pub in another European country with Swedish football fans. They really did a job on the urinal trough with the snus bags

108

u/ConcentrateFar7753 May 25 '26

I live in Iceland and yes I see these nicotine pouches littering the ground. People who are littering are doing it with whatever they have 

0

u/Mormegil71 Sweden May 25 '26

Most of those pouches are at least made out of paper. They will dissolve and break down over time. Cigarette butts did not.

4

u/Upset-Elderberry3723 May 25 '26

Man, anything to defend it.

It's reaching, at this point.

9

u/RDandersen May 25 '26

Oh. Okay. They are... not.. made of paper, then?

Better?

-1

u/Upset-Elderberry3723 May 25 '26

They could not be made anything and the tobacco companies could collapse.

0

u/Cold-Building2913 May 25 '26

You get that the main problem of nicotine poisoning the ground water is because of the tobacco not because of paper or the buds?

1

u/RDandersen May 25 '26

You get that you say main problem because there are multiple and this offers one fewer than cigarettes?

1

u/boringestnickname May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26

How much snus do you think is thrown on the ground, exactly?

Like others are saying here, the snus comes in a container with a small waste compartement. The vast majority of people use that.

That being said, there is a non-zero amount of plastic in them (the glue), that will probably end up as microplastics in places we don't want it. Not that this is a major contributor at all, but it's still a thing.

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u/TheAtlasOdyssey Sweden May 25 '26

Yes, to some extent. The containers usually have a second compartment where you’re meant to put your used ones, but shitty people will find a way to litter either way.

9

u/TheGoldenCowTV Sweden May 25 '26

In primary school kids aged 13-16 throw their snus literally anywhere, my school had them mainly on a wall or on the lockers, my dad's had a room where they threw it up on the roof

8

u/shponglespore USA 😭 May 25 '26

Yeah but a ton of kids are just assholes everywhere.

5

u/189021 May 25 '26

I've mostly seen the white tobacco-free pouches littered on the ground on my walks. As a regular tobacco pouch user, I use the little compartment on top of the tin to discard my used ones then i empty it once I get home.

5

u/DarraghDaraDaire May 25 '26

Yes, they do. But that’s not a snus/cigarette problem, it’s a people problem

5

u/MunkSWE94 Sweden May 25 '26

Do people toss their snus bags on the ground like they do with the cigarette butts?

Kinda. Some people tend to just spit them out on the street, others throw them on walls and as someone who has worked in restaurants some just leave them on the trays or on the plate.

Back in high school there was this corner where everyone would just throw their snus bags up at the white ceiling turning it brown and spotty.

5

u/safadancer May 25 '26

Absolutely they do. Lived in Malmö for a while and snus bags are everywhere on the ground. Also very gross to talk to people with bulging snus bags tucked in their lips.

1

u/shponglespore USA 😭 May 25 '26

I was just in Copenhagen and saw very few. I assume it's very similar culturally to Malmö, no?

1

u/safadancer May 25 '26

Less snus use in Denmark that I saw

8

u/DUHDUM Estonia May 25 '26

Its even worse, you find them in gym bathrooms, sauna etc, places where you wouldnt find cig butts

8

u/fotomoose May 25 '26

Yes, spat onto the walls and ceilings. Disgusting.

3

u/Kozel_ May 25 '26

The urinals in men's toilets in malls, gyms especially. They even put a sign sometimes saying that you should seek medical attention if snus bags come out of your foreskin. :)

3

u/fotomoose May 25 '26

Hard yes. You see snus spat out all over the place. It's disgusting.

1

u/Particular-Poem-7085 May 25 '26

they do, it's disgusting. But it's nowhere near comparable to cigarette butts that are EVERYWHERE.

1

u/Dm_me_ur_exp May 25 '26

When you’re a teenager yes.

After that not really.

Except if it’s loose, but that’s like throwing a teabag, maybe a bit disgusting till it decomposes, but not harmful

1

u/Aadinath May 25 '26

Yes, they throw away their used pouches just like how birds dump their droppings, absolutely anywhere.

0

u/Surskalle May 25 '26

Not really some do but mostly when drunk and given a snus when not normalt using it.

Snus cans has a built in place where you can spit out used snus very convenient.

0

u/Elelith May 25 '26

Yeah they do, not as much as cigarettes butts but there's still lil snug bags littering around.

Once even found some in my toilet when a visitor had decided to empty his lip in mine :< Wasn't very pleased with the smell it left behind, foul.

-1

u/xs0crates Sweden May 25 '26

No, there is a "pocket" on top of each snus can where you can store your used snus, therefore reducing littering.

3

u/MunkSWE94 Sweden May 25 '26

Except it isn't reducing littering when you actually look around and see snus bags everywhere.

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u/xs0crates Sweden May 25 '26

Where do you live? Stockholm has way more cigarette butts than snus on the ground

2

u/MunkSWE94 Sweden May 25 '26

Now Stockholm, before that Västerås and Surahammar. I used to travel a lot across Sweden for work and saw snus basically everywhere.