I thought we were being watched. It seems that you're not allowed to get angry in the UK any more.
http://www.tobaccotactics.org/index....ersity_of_Bath
Paper Exposing Illegal Online Sales of Snus in EU
On 22 January 2012, the journal Tobacco Control published an article entitled 'How online sales and promotion of snus in the European Union (EU) contravenes current legislation.'[1] Authored by researchers from the Tobacco Control Research Group at the University of Bath, the article highlighted that snus was being sold illegally across the EU via the Internet, contravening three EU Directives and Swedish national legislation.
To explain: Snus is a traditional Scandinavian Smokeless Tobacco product, predominantly used in Sweden where it is regulated under the Swedish Food Act. There are EU-wide bans on the sale of snus outside Sweden and on the online promotion of tobacco products. However, as this paper showed, there is relatively little control on either the online sale or promotion of snus across Europe. The European Ban on snus has also been challenged in the past - in 2004 by Swedish Match and one of its suppliers - without success. (See: Snus: EU Ban on Snus Sales) The Tobacco Control article generated a heated reaction from snus users, upset that their usual channels for acquiring snus could be threatened. The online reaction included threats to the authors as well as Freedom of Information requests to the University of Bath. These came from same person.
Swedish Match Demands Evidence
The Tobacco Control Journal uploaded the article on Saturday 21 January 2012. On the following Monday, even before the University of Bath had issued a press release about the snus article,[2] one of the authors received a phone call from Swedish Match. Patrik Hildingsson, its Vice President for Public Affairs, had been alerted by an early news item at the website of Swedish NGO TobaksFakta[3] and requested a copy of the article.
In a subsequent email on the same day - 23 January - he said he was "interested in those parts were you conclude directly or indirectly any wrongdoings by Swedish Match".[4] Hildingsson was advised that the paper demonstrated that a Swedish Match website promoted illegal sales of snus. The website in question is called GeneralSnus.com and it advertises the company's premium snus brand General. GeneralSnus links directly to several websites operated by the top four vendors of snus that sell snus illegally to non-Swedish EU citizens.[5] The official domain name registration shows that GeneralSnus is owned by Swedish Match.[6]
Snus User Outrage
Within a few days, the news about the Tobacco Control paper reached the snus community. The first person to flag the article on illegal snus sales was Tim Haigh, a British blogger on snus issues. On 30 January 2012, he wrote about it on his own blog, snusify.com, and posted a similar message on snuson.com, an online forum for snus users, stating that the authors provided the “usual one sided view against snus with a feeling of venom”.[7] Haigh further claimed that Northerner, the biggest online snus retailer, had stopped selling snus from Sweden to EU countries in response to the article, and suggested snus could still be bought from the United States, or by making a "snus run" to Sweden.[8]
On his blog Haigh provides a screen grab and a downloadable version of the Tobacco Control article (the file conveniently called TobaccoNazi.pdf). This would appear to contravene the copyright rules of the journal's publisher, the BMJ Group. Indeed in April 2012, Haigh reported on his facebook blog that the BMJ had been in touch with him over this contravention.
Comment on Facebook Snusify.com, accessed 31/5/2012
http://www.tobaccotactics.org/index....ersity_of_Bath
Paper Exposing Illegal Online Sales of Snus in EU
On 22 January 2012, the journal Tobacco Control published an article entitled 'How online sales and promotion of snus in the European Union (EU) contravenes current legislation.'[1] Authored by researchers from the Tobacco Control Research Group at the University of Bath, the article highlighted that snus was being sold illegally across the EU via the Internet, contravening three EU Directives and Swedish national legislation.
To explain: Snus is a traditional Scandinavian Smokeless Tobacco product, predominantly used in Sweden where it is regulated under the Swedish Food Act. There are EU-wide bans on the sale of snus outside Sweden and on the online promotion of tobacco products. However, as this paper showed, there is relatively little control on either the online sale or promotion of snus across Europe. The European Ban on snus has also been challenged in the past - in 2004 by Swedish Match and one of its suppliers - without success. (See: Snus: EU Ban on Snus Sales) The Tobacco Control article generated a heated reaction from snus users, upset that their usual channels for acquiring snus could be threatened. The online reaction included threats to the authors as well as Freedom of Information requests to the University of Bath. These came from same person.
Swedish Match Demands Evidence
The Tobacco Control Journal uploaded the article on Saturday 21 January 2012. On the following Monday, even before the University of Bath had issued a press release about the snus article,[2] one of the authors received a phone call from Swedish Match. Patrik Hildingsson, its Vice President for Public Affairs, had been alerted by an early news item at the website of Swedish NGO TobaksFakta[3] and requested a copy of the article.
In a subsequent email on the same day - 23 January - he said he was "interested in those parts were you conclude directly or indirectly any wrongdoings by Swedish Match".[4] Hildingsson was advised that the paper demonstrated that a Swedish Match website promoted illegal sales of snus. The website in question is called GeneralSnus.com and it advertises the company's premium snus brand General. GeneralSnus links directly to several websites operated by the top four vendors of snus that sell snus illegally to non-Swedish EU citizens.[5] The official domain name registration shows that GeneralSnus is owned by Swedish Match.[6]
Snus User Outrage
Within a few days, the news about the Tobacco Control paper reached the snus community. The first person to flag the article on illegal snus sales was Tim Haigh, a British blogger on snus issues. On 30 January 2012, he wrote about it on his own blog, snusify.com, and posted a similar message on snuson.com, an online forum for snus users, stating that the authors provided the “usual one sided view against snus with a feeling of venom”.[7] Haigh further claimed that Northerner, the biggest online snus retailer, had stopped selling snus from Sweden to EU countries in response to the article, and suggested snus could still be bought from the United States, or by making a "snus run" to Sweden.[8]
On his blog Haigh provides a screen grab and a downloadable version of the Tobacco Control article (the file conveniently called TobaccoNazi.pdf). This would appear to contravene the copyright rules of the journal's publisher, the BMJ Group. Indeed in April 2012, Haigh reported on his facebook blog that the BMJ had been in touch with him over this contravention.
Comment on Facebook Snusify.com, accessed 31/5/2012
Comment