End Smoking New Zealand is pleased to see Swedish snus will soon be available in New Zealand, something it has been
lobbying for, for more than a decade.
Snus is a very small pouch of tobacco that delivers nicotine when the user places it between their gum and top lip. Snus
has helped Sweden achieve among the lowest rates of smoking-related disease. They also have one of the lowest smoking
rates in the world, now reported to be close to 5 per cent - the first country to come close to reaching New Zealand’s
Smokefree 2025 goal.
“End Smoking New Zealand has long advocated for a variety of reduced harm alternatives to be available to smokers, to
help them find a way of stopping smoking that suits them,” Dr Penny Truman says.
“Not all smokers will find snus helpful but it has worked in Sweden, just as e-cigarettes seem to be helping reduce
smoking rates in the United Kingdom. The evidence that snus is significantly less harmful than smoking is strong,” she
says.
Snus is just one of several reduced harm alternatives to smoking which End Smoking New Zealand believes can help New
Zealand reduce its smoking rates more rapidly than we have been able to do until now.
Auckland oncologist Dr George Laking says, “Giving a positive alternative to those who have not been able to stop
smoking, or do not want to, could be the circuit breaker that we need in order to meet our smoke-free goals.
“For too long New Zealand has treated harm reduction products as part of the problem, when it is increasingly clear that
they are, rather, part of the solution. Their legal position needs to be clarified, and changed where necessary, to
encourage smokers to switch to them. We commend the Government, and NZ Smokeless Tobacco Co. for their moves in that
direction.”
ends