Media Watch: Bloomberg News on Snus

Good things in life can come from the most unexpected places. Like a rose that grew from concrete, Bloomberg News has produced an article about snus and “smoke-free” Sweden with all the hallmarks of journalism.

When you see the name Bloomberg close to any media about smoking harm reduction, it’s usually a bad sign. However, two Bloomberg journalists have defied their paymaster’s narrative and written a well-researched and borderline impartial piece about snus, the Swedish Experience, and what it all means for people who want to quit smoking.

Sweden’s inconvenient smoke-free status

The authors start by acknowledging that Sweden’s smoking prevalence is on the way to hitting sub-5 % or “smoke-free” levels this year. They then suggest that Sweden is a “controversial case study”.

Sweden should not be a controversial case study. It’s is, however, a very inconvenient case study for people who have built a career promoting the carrot rather than the stick when it comes to reducing smoking rates.

Some of the tobacco control community may have convinced themselves that Sweden’s smoking policy is responsible for becoming smoke-free. However, as I’ve mentioned before, they don’t explain why similar policies have not had the same effect across Europe.

The reality is simple: the legality and cultural importance of snus in the region have given Swedes the choice to seek healthier pathways. So, that’s what they did. It’s the same thing we’ve seen with vaping, and it’s the same thing we are now seeing with nicotine pouches. It’s about consumers being given the option to pursue products.

The article says:

“In 2004 about 14% of men and 19% of women smoked daily. By 2022 those rates had dropped by roughly two-thirds, bolstered by climbing cigarette taxes and a ban on smoking in public places.”

What a lot of these people seem to forget is that:

• Bans and taxes don’t affect the demand for nicotine. Alternatives like snus give people somewhere to go
• Vaping went mainstream during this time and accounts for some of that decline
• Bans on public smoking in bars and cafes prompted some occasional users to quit. Some of this data treats a person who smokes a cigarette on a night out once a month the same as someone lighting up 40 times a day. The health risks are night and day.

Fact check

While the article was good overall — who can complain too much when Bloomberg News admits that nicotine is not cancerous — there were a few facts that should be addressed.

#1. Nicotine and pregnancy

“Nicotine use among pregnant women has been associated with low birth weights and increased risk of birth defects in children.”

This 2024 study of 1100 pregnant smokers begs to differ.

#2. The stepping stone

The article features a quote from Årehed Kågström of the Swedish Cancer Society, who claims snus is a:

“Steppingstone to wider tobacco and nicotine use,”

There are endless studies, [like this one] that demolish that claim.

Or, you can just ask yourself a simple question: If snus is a stepping stone to smoking, why are there so few people across the stream?

#3. Snus use among women in Sweden

“Only 4% of Swedish women age 16 to 29 said they regularly or sometimes used nicotine pouches in 2018; that number had surged to 18% by 2022”

A 2012 paper suggests that 23.5% of women aged 16 to 29 smoked in Sweden around 2010. As snus became cleaner and nicotine pouches emerged, women rotated to these products.

If anything, this should be seen as a positive thing. There was a demand in the market, that demand was met, and therefore smoking dropped. Alarm about a 14% surge in this context doesn’t seem justified.

Final thoughts

Bloomberg News surprised me with this one. Yes, the writers gave a bit too much space to a few long debunked canards, but even the fact that the sought comment from the Snus Commission’s Anders Milton is a positive signal for presenting harm-reduction products as a credible solution for people who want to stop smoking.