Source - Sydney Morning Herald
Call to legalise 'snus' in Australia
Danny Rose, Medical Writer
February 23, 2009
A controversial tobacco product available in Sweden, where lung cancer rates are the lowest in Europe, should be made legal in Australia, an academic says.
Snus is a moist powdered tobacco product that is not smoked, but placed under the lip, where nicotine is absorbed into the blood stream. It has lower levels of the carcinogens found in conventional chewing tobacco.
It was banned in 1991 as part of Australian efforts to reduce avenues for the expansion of the tobacco industry, but Dr Coral Gartner has called for the ban to be overturned.
Dr Gartner, based at the University of Queensland's school of population health, says it could help cut the human toll among people who can't or won't quit smoking.
"Your best course of action is to quit smoking, but if you're not going to do that then this is second best," Dr Gartner said.
"And, if cigarettes are still going to be available then it seems reasonable to allow these people another option that is a lot less harmful."
Snus is outlawed across the European Union but due to exemptions is still manufactured and consumed primarily in Sweden and Norway.
Sweden's smoking rate dropped from 40 per cent in 1976 to 15 per cent in 2002, meanwhile snus gained in popularity and 21 per cent of Swedish men are now daily users.
Despite this, Dr Gartner said the country recorded no increase in the rates of oral cancer or cardiovascular disease, and tobacco-related deaths in Sweden were among the lowest in the developed world.
The Swedish example showed a tobacco addict who used snus had a lower risk of all smoking related cancers, she said.
"There might still be some residual risk of pancreatic cancer and oral cancer ... but that risk still seems to be lower than what you get from smoking," Dr Gartner said.
It also did not appear to act as a "gateway" to smoking, she said, as the Swedish experience was that more smokers moved over to snus than the reverse.
Snus, along with similar products that come in the form of a compressed tablet, was also a less visible way to consume tobacco than smoking, helping to denormalise tobacco addiction in the public's eye, Dr Gartner said.
The tobacco industry could still be prevented from advertising it if legalised, she said, and its introduction could allow a fresh tightening of cigarette regulations.
"I'm not saying let's make it legal and off you go. I'd say we have another option for smokers now and let's ramp up the regulation of cigarettes," Dr Gartner said.
"I understand there might be concerns about bringing in more tobacco products, but (at the moment) we've got the toughest regulation possible on these products which are actually a lot less harmful than cigarettes are."
The Cancer Council agreed that a case could be made on health grounds for introducing snus to Australia, but chief executive Professor Ian Olver also said more research was needed.
Views among smoking cessation experts were split on snus - which, he said, appeared to be a "less harmful" product than cigarettes.
"On the other hand, why should we find another way to addict people to tobacco?" he added.
"What we do know is (that) in Australia smoking rates have come down very dramatically ... we've done very well without it (snus)."
Dr Gartner's views on snus are also outlined in an article, co-authored by Professor Wayne Hall, published online in the journal Public Health.
© 2009 AAP
Danny Rose, Medical Writer
February 23, 2009
A controversial tobacco product available in Sweden, where lung cancer rates are the lowest in Europe, should be made legal in Australia, an academic says.
Snus is a moist powdered tobacco product that is not smoked, but placed under the lip, where nicotine is absorbed into the blood stream. It has lower levels of the carcinogens found in conventional chewing tobacco.
It was banned in 1991 as part of Australian efforts to reduce avenues for the expansion of the tobacco industry, but Dr Coral Gartner has called for the ban to be overturned.
Dr Gartner, based at the University of Queensland's school of population health, says it could help cut the human toll among people who can't or won't quit smoking.
"Your best course of action is to quit smoking, but if you're not going to do that then this is second best," Dr Gartner said.
"And, if cigarettes are still going to be available then it seems reasonable to allow these people another option that is a lot less harmful."
Snus is outlawed across the European Union but due to exemptions is still manufactured and consumed primarily in Sweden and Norway.
Sweden's smoking rate dropped from 40 per cent in 1976 to 15 per cent in 2002, meanwhile snus gained in popularity and 21 per cent of Swedish men are now daily users.
Despite this, Dr Gartner said the country recorded no increase in the rates of oral cancer or cardiovascular disease, and tobacco-related deaths in Sweden were among the lowest in the developed world.
The Swedish example showed a tobacco addict who used snus had a lower risk of all smoking related cancers, she said.
"There might still be some residual risk of pancreatic cancer and oral cancer ... but that risk still seems to be lower than what you get from smoking," Dr Gartner said.
It also did not appear to act as a "gateway" to smoking, she said, as the Swedish experience was that more smokers moved over to snus than the reverse.
Snus, along with similar products that come in the form of a compressed tablet, was also a less visible way to consume tobacco than smoking, helping to denormalise tobacco addiction in the public's eye, Dr Gartner said.
The tobacco industry could still be prevented from advertising it if legalised, she said, and its introduction could allow a fresh tightening of cigarette regulations.
"I'm not saying let's make it legal and off you go. I'd say we have another option for smokers now and let's ramp up the regulation of cigarettes," Dr Gartner said.
"I understand there might be concerns about bringing in more tobacco products, but (at the moment) we've got the toughest regulation possible on these products which are actually a lot less harmful than cigarettes are."
The Cancer Council agreed that a case could be made on health grounds for introducing snus to Australia, but chief executive Professor Ian Olver also said more research was needed.
Views among smoking cessation experts were split on snus - which, he said, appeared to be a "less harmful" product than cigarettes.
"On the other hand, why should we find another way to addict people to tobacco?" he added.
"What we do know is (that) in Australia smoking rates have come down very dramatically ... we've done very well without it (snus)."
Dr Gartner's views on snus are also outlined in an article, co-authored by Professor Wayne Hall, published online in the journal Public Health.
© 2009 AAP
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