Snusar du?

(Do you snus?) I had no idea what snus was until I moved to Sweden. I thought about writing a quick post on Snus because I’m sure there are many people outside of Scandinavia who haven’t heard of it either and it seems very much a Swedish ‘thing’ (although it is also consumed in Norway).

Snus (moist powder tobacco) is an alternative to smoking, chewing, and dipping tobacco. It’s different from snuff and chewing tobacco, although it originates from the variant of dry snuff.

It’s illegal to sell in the EU, but due to special exemptions it is still made and used primarily in Sweden and Norway. Snus has only recently been introduced to South Africa and the US. There also exists US “snus”, but some argue it’s not the real Swedish stuff.

Here are some things I’ve heard about snus:
– There seem to be many different brands and the price varies.
– I’ve seen mostly guys using snus, but it’s not unheard of for women to also use it.
– They are kept in a ‘snus’ cabinet in the stores.
– Snus comes in a round tin and actual snus packages look similar to mini teabags.
– People place that “mini tea-bag” on their upper lip.

Snus cabinet in the grocery store

A guy puts his snus tin on the table at a meeting and I immediately glance at his face, more specifically, his mouth. One can tell if someone is using snus because they place it right on their gums behind their upper lip and just above their teeth. If you look down on the side walk often times you can see used snus packets on the ground.

Mini “tea-bags” of snus

They say snus is better for your health than smoking and there isn’t a need to worry about second hand smoke. However, snus is apparently really addictive and if you google snus, there are some really disgusting photos of what happens to your mouth and teeth after prolonged use i.e. gum disease and tooth loss. Just like the habit of smoking, it’s gross and really doesn’t appeal to me but I can’t say the same for all of the Swedes who snusar. To each his own.