Abstract
Swedish snus is a medium/high nicotine delivery, low-nitrosamine moist smokeless tobacco product that has been estimated to be at least 90% less harmful than smoked tobacco. More men use snus than smoke cigarettes in Sweden, and a quarter of male former smokers quit by switching to snus. Leading multinational cigarette manufacturers have begun test-marketing snus-like products in the United States and other countries. The version of Philip Morris' Marlboro snus currently being marketed in the United States differs from Swedish snus in many ways; it has lower moisture content and pH, but most puzzling is its very low nicotine delivery. Philip Morris, the market-leader in United States cigarette sales, may have designed the product so that it does not satisfy nicotine cravings and fails to enable smokers to switch. In this paper we compare and contrast Swedish snus and Marlboro snus, and speculate as to why Philip Morris may have intentionally designed a product that delivers very low levels of nicotine. We recommend that Philip Morris cease using the term "snus" to refer to dry tobacco products with low nicotine delivery, so that the term be reserved for moist, low-toxin, medium/high nicotine delivery smokeless tobacco products that are qualitatively similar to the leading brands in Sweden.
Highlights
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, few tobacco control advocates outside of Sweden had heard of "snus," the form of low-nitrosamine moist snuff tobacco that is very popular in that country [1]
It is believed that the relatively low levels of toxins found in Swedish snus are due to the selection of air-cured tobacco already low in toxins, and the use of a pasteurization process which kills the microbes that otherwise contribute to the formation of carcinogenic tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) [6,11]
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) recently concluded that, "low nitrosamine smokeless tobacco products may have a positive role to play in a coordinated and regulated harm reduction strategy which maximizes public health benefit and protects against commercial market exploitation," (p230) [11]. It is unclear whether the form of FDA regulation currently proposed for the United States, and supported by Philip Morris USA (PM), would embrace the model for tobacco harm reduction advocated by the RCP
Summary
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, few tobacco control advocates outside of Sweden had heard of "snus," the form of low-nitrosamine moist snuff tobacco that is very popular in that country [1]. While increasing scientific evidence indicates that Swedish snus is not harmless but is less harmful to health than cigarettes [2,3,4,5,6], the public health community has observed the launch of these new snus products outside of Sweden with increasing apprehension [7,8,9]. Concern spiked when PM announced it would call its new brand, Marlboro Snus. In this paper we compare and contrast Swedish snus with the new PM smokeless tobacco product called Marlboro Snus, and speculate as to why PM has intentionally designed and marketed a smokeless tobacco product that delivers relatively low levels of nicotine
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
