"When the government unilaterally attacks
snus and in such a disproportionate manner,
the wrong signals are being sent in terms
of the harmfulness of different tobacco
products. There is also the risk of removing
the incentive for smokers to quit by switching
to a product that we know has helped many
smokers become free from
cigarette addiction,"
says Lars-Erik Rutqvist,
VP Scientific Affairs at
Swedish Match.
If the increase is
approved, tax on snus
will have increased by 173
percent from December
2006 to January 2008. The tax on cigarettes
will have only increased by 24 percent during
the same period.
"This wrongly implies that all tobacco is
equally harmful, while medical research and
experience indicates the opposite. Today,
comprehensive scientific documentation
indicates the relative health benefits of snus
and also indicates that snus is very effective in
antidotal smoking treatment".
In the international scientific community,
"the Swedish experience" has become an
established concept. An increasing number
of symposiums, conferences, studies and
scientific reviews have dealt precisely with this.
In Sweden, snus has been well-established for
some time and it has therefore been possible
to support health gains with respect to, for
example, cardiovascular diseases and various
forms of cancer.
The scientific committee that this summer,
on assignment from the EU, presented a report
on smokeless tobacco may not have excluded
the possibility of health risks being associated
with snus. However, it indicated that Swedish
snus has a unique position among smokeless
tobacco products, that it is significantly less
unhealthy than cigarettes and that there are
large health benefits for smokers who switch
from cigarettes to snus.
Last spring, a number of researchers arrived at the same conclusion in the well-respected
magazine, The Lancet, and recommended that
Swedish snus be allowed in countries in which
it is forbidden today.
"Item after item, the relative gains of snus
are being moved forward in the public health
debate and in the medical world. At the same
time, the socio-economic
cost of cigarette smoking
is astronomical. Smoking
is particularly the cause of
major suffering for many
people, resulting in serious
illnesses and premature
death," says Lars-Erik
Rutqvist.
It is difficult to understand the government's
policies, according to Rutqvist. In Sweden,
despite the popularity of snus, there are still
more people who smoke compared with the
number using snus.
"Introducing a high tax increase for snus,
while cigarettes get off lightly, sends completely
wrong signals," he concludes.