Snuff Article In Metro

www.metro.co.uk

SNUFF IT

METROHEALTH

Monday, October 16, 2006 METRO 17

WITH THE SMOKING BAN LOOMING, JOHN HIGGINSON SNIFFS OUT THE NICOTINE ALTERNATIVES THAT ADDICTS ARE TURNING TO

What’s all the snus about? ast week, it was announced that next year’s ban on smoking in bars and clubs could even stretch to the streets outside in London’s West End. While the ban is the perfect excuse to kick the habit, a recent survey by Boots The Chemists found that only 18 per cent of smokers were considering quitting before it comes into play. Will smokers be forced to look for their stimulant hit elsewhere? We look at some other, equally controversial, options.

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premises instead of cigarettes he 20th century was the golden age of smoking. It and, for a while, a lot more people are going to experiment was cool. It was sexy. It as they look for alternatives was cheap. It was sociable. It to smoking.’ stimulated conversation. You Anti-smoking group Ash say could do it at work and at the they would prefer smokers cinema – you could even do it turned to other options if they while on a plane. And then a cannot quit the cigs. little thing called lung cancer ‘There is no completely safe came along and spoiled the tobacco but around 80 per cent party. But it’s no surprise we of the health risks associated all got hooked – according to with the drug come from experts at the Royal College of inhaling the smoke,’ says Ash Physicians, cigarettes are as research manager Amanda addictive as heroin and Sandford. ‘Bronchitis, chronic cocaine. obtrusive pulmonary disease, So will next year’s ban see carbon monoxide poisoning smokers shun cold doorways and, of course, lung cancer all in favour of getting their come from inhaling smoke.’ stimulant kick elsewhere? In an attempt to According to Graeme offset smoking’s T Steel, who set up negative health snuff appreciation image, one company society Snuff Box – – ‘Vit C’ – has come The Nasal Snuff up with the idea of Club in 2001, they enriching cigarettes will. with vitamins. ‘Ten years ago, But Sandford is not snuff was dying out convinced. ‘Smoking in the UK,’ says Steel reduces the amount of the ground tobacco of vitamins in your that is pinched between the thumb Swedish snus user body,’ she said. ‘This is a gimmick but and forefinger and there is a danger that people sniffed into the nostrils. ‘It has will think these cigarettes are been both an upper-class and good for you. They are not.’ working-class pursuit: miners and those working in situations Banned in the EU where a lit cigarette could be One of the least dangerous dangerous have long enjoyed ways of taking tobacco, snuff. But it was largely according to Sandford and shunned in favour of cigarettes, many experts, has been cigars or pipes. Now, with the banned in the EU. increasing limits on where and Snus is moist, steamed when you can smoke, snuff has tobacco that is rolled into a come into its own, especially rough ball or wrapped in among cigarette smokers.’ individual small pouches (like a teabag) and put Snuff’s enough between the gum and lip. At Segar & Snuff Parlour, in It was banned in the EU in London’s Covent Garden, there 1992 after the World Health has been an annual rise in snuff Organisation concluded that sales of about ten per cent since most oral tobacco products, 2000. such as chewing tobacco ‘We are expecting a further and tobacco-filled betel increase when the ban comes leaves, popular in India, into place,’ said Segar & Snuff were carcinogenic manager Robert Good. ‘Snuff is (cancer causing). likely to be sold in licensed

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Golden age: The days of smoking being sexy, cool and sociably acceptable are numbered

While snus was tarnished with the same brush, there is little evidence that it is carcinogenic and it is believed that the way it is processed – steamed rather than toasted – makes it better for you. Despite the EU ban, snus is still legal in Sweden and Norway. And Sweden, where an estimated one in three men use snus, has the lowest rate of tobacco-related deaths in Europe. In comparison, tobaccorelated deaths among Swedish women, who rarely use snus, is the fifth highest in Europe. As a result, calls are getting louder for the ban to be lifted to help reduce cigarette smoking. ‘We would welcome a new report by an independent body into the possibility of lifting the ban on snus,’ says Sandford. ‘The risks from using smokeless tobacco are considerably less than any sort of smoked tobacco but we would obviously prefer that people did not use tobacco in any form. There is no safe form.’ ■ Do you want to quit smoking? Call 0800 002 200 for your nearest help group. www.ash.org.uk

OTHER SMOKING ALTERNATIVES ■ Patches are intended to help wean smokers off cigarettes but some users have become addicted to them and experience vivid dreams when wearing them. There are a few cases in which nicotine addicts who failed to follow doctor’s orders died from heart failure after applying multiple patches and then smoking and consuming alcohol.

■ NicoShot was released last year in the US and should be available in Britain soon. It is a bottle of beer with 3mg of nicotine in it. Three cans are the equivalent of smoking one pack of cigarettes. ■ Chewing tobacco is the oldest way of taking tobacco but it will give you

brown teeth and gums, ulcers and increase your risk of mouth cancer. ■ Betel leaves have mild medicinal qualities and have been chewed in Asia for thousands of years. Chewed between the cheek and gums, they blacken your teeth and increase your risk of mouth cancer.

Edited by LISA SCOTT [email protected]