Why No One Smokes In Sweden

0:00 this is Morton he's 20 years old and has just picked up a few fresh packs of snoo at a shop in Central stockhom on his lunch break think I have been snoozing for a long while now and I just think it's relaxing snooze is a tobacco product that comes in small pouches it's tucked under the lip to get a nicotine buzz and depending on who you ask snoo is the reason why Sweden has just about quit smoking only 5.6% of swedes smoked in 2022 that's the lowest percentage in Europe and within touching distance of the 5% Target where a country can

0:46 declare itself smoke free Swedish smoking rates have fallen by over half in the past 15 years today only 5% of men and about 6% of women smoke but about about 15% of the population uses snoo mostly men but women are a fast growing Market women tend to use nicotine pouches a relatively new product that appeared less than a decade ago think of them like snoo but with no tobacco instead they're made of plant fibers combined with nicotine I'm at nicet this is a nicotine store in a store like this you can find a variable plethora of nicotine products Vapes nicotine pouches and traditional snoo

1:33 the one thing you won't find here are cigarettes snoo has been part of the Swedish popular culture for more than 200 years now it's making a comeback snoo Fans Say Sweden's centuries long experiment provides the road map for the rest of the world to finally quit using cigarettes but policy makers and health Advocates are divided over its use in the EU there are hints legis legislators could move to ban tobacco-free nicotine pouches that would represent a severe economic threat to nicotine pouch makers products like Vapes and snoo were once seen as competitors to Big tobacco's core business but these days they're embracing them as so-called

2:18 reduced risk products last year Global Tobacco giant Philip Morris International bought Swedish match which owns several domestic snoo and nicotine pouch Brands it's time to work toward the common goal of delivering effective policies that make cigarettes a historical artifact a museum piece collecting dust behind glass cases the global market for nicotine pouch makers is projected to soar from about $2 billion in 2022 to as much as 17.6 billion by 2029 alternative nicotine prod products represent an existential Lifeline to Big tobacco offering a gradual sales shift

3:05 from cigarettes to what they say are less harmful products despite growing snoo use Sweden boasts the lowest tobacco related cancer rates for European men and in 2019 the US Food and Drug Administration declared eight varieties of Swedish match snooze less risky than cigarettes the regulator said use of such smokeless tobacco products poses lower risks of cancer still nicotine is highly addictive it can elevate blood pressure contribute to cardiovascular diseases and aggravate heart issues and other health problems of course I'm mostly worried about that we're now seeing a whole new generation of nicotine

3:51 addicts thought it looked good and I wanted to try I just kept going going and going and it's hard to stop I'm kind of stuck they bought into the tobacco industry story about snoo as a smoke sensation product cogr instead attribute Sweden's low smoking rates to restrictions put in place in the 1990s Sweden was one of the first countries to introduce smokefree workplaces and introduced age limit on buying cigarettes and tobacco products and these are measures that have been proven effective in reducing smoking in Sweden with the flurry of new nicotine products entering the market it is key for governments to get a handle on best practices and policies we're not there

4:38 yet and we see inequalities in terms of smoking rates depending on your level of income and education so we still have a lot more to do before coming a smoke free country