Health Commissioner reprimands Astrid Thors for snus liberation campaign

Experts: Snus causes addiction and cancer

Astrid Thors

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Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Health, has advised Finland’s Minister of European and Migration Affairs Astrid Thors (Swedish People's Party) to adhere to the tobacco directive adopted by the European Union.
     
As reported by Helsingin Sanomat on Tuesday, Thors had bought ten boxes of snus for her “friends and acquaintances” during a stop-over in Sweden on her way home from Brussels, where she had been on an official journey.
      The Greek Commissioner points out that Sweden has promised not to introduce snus on the market in any other member states.
      According to Vassiliou, this applies to the Finnish territorial waters as well. Large quantities of snus are sold on cruise ships sailing between Sweden and Finland.
      The Commissioner has given a very strict reply to Thors who would like to deregulate the sales of snus in the EU area.
     
A committee on tobacco policy set up by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health to review a potential reform of the Tobacco Act is reportedly also planning to tighten the law further.
      The committee will submit its final report to Minister of Health and Social Services Paula Risikko (National Coalition Party) on December 18th.
      Matti Rautalahti, the chief medical officer of the Cancer Society of Finland and a member of the committee, hopes that the present situation that is in contrast with the Tobacco Act would change.
      ”Upon its joining the European Union, Sweden promised that it would not sell snus to other EU states and that it would not promote the use of smokeless tobacco in other countries, including Finland. In practice, the state of Sweden is doing just the opposite”, says Rautalahti.
      The chief medical officer notes further that smokeless tobacco is not a safer substitute for cigarettes and does not help smokers to get rid of cigarettes. On the contrary, it can result in an addiction to nicotine even worse than that caused by cigarettes.
     
The marketing of snus as a less harmful substance than cigarettes is an outright distortion of the facts, says Harri Vainio, the Director General of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.
      ”Snus is likely to cause addiction at least as easily as cigarettes. In addition, the users of snus have an elevated risk of pancreatic and oral cancers. The fact has been established in the Nordic countries”, reports Vainio.
      Vainio is a member of an EU group of scientists, stating that there are no criteria based on which the sales of snus should be deregulated.
      ”There are no reasons to introduce on the market a new tobacco product that is popular among young people, even those below 15 years. It is an early way to become addicted to nicotine”, Vainio points out.
      He adds that Swedish Match, a company offering tobacco products, has been very active in promoting and lobbying for snus.
      Apart from Sweden, the use of snus has become very common in the other Nordic countries, Great Britain, and in the north of Germany.
     
Under EU regulations dating back to 1992, the sale of this kind of smokeless tobacco is prohibited in all other Union member states with the exception of Sweden. The Swedes campaigned hard before entry into the EU to make their exemption from the ban a condition of joining. Norway, outside the EU, also permits the sale of snus.
      The use of snus in Finland and import for personal consumption is not prohibited.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Prison sentence for illegal importation of smokeless tobacco (30.3.2007)
  Minister Astrid Thors buys smokeless tobacco on her official EU trip (9.12.2008)
  Snus by any other name...(6.5.2008)

Links:
  Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
  Finnish Cancer Organisations
  Finnish Institute of Occupational Health

Helsingin Sanomat