Vaping, snus and nicotine scares in Almedalen - can it get any better?

Stigmatisering. Skrämselhicka. Konsumentperspektiv. Det är krångliga ord, men inte desto mindre viktiga i dagens debatt om brukare, barn och marknaden för “nya” nikotinprodukter. På onsdag håller Vejpkollen och Snusarnas riksförbud låda i Almedalen om just detta. Den här krönikan handlar faktiskt nästan inte bara om det…

It is once again time for Vejpkollen to take the stage together with Snusarnas Riksförbund in Almedalen. What will we talk about? Nicotine, of course. And why it's important that we, as consumers, have a voice in the debate on smoke-free nicotine use. For almost 15 years, the discussion and policy on e-cigarettes, snus and now nicotine pouches has been dominated by a prevention narrative. The goal has been to eradicate all nicotine use, except for nicotine replacement therapy (of course), at any cost. At the same time, more and more smokers have found their way out of smoking by using nicotine, but in much less harmful forms. 

The asset is Swedish with a capital S

Of course, this change has not been about nicotine medicines (duh). It varies a bit across European countries, but Sweden stands out in terms of scale and, above all, availability. Smokeless nicotine products have taken over the tobacco shelves of shops. Here we have access to a healthy mix of snus, e-cigarettes, heat-not-nicotine pouches, straight over the counter, and relatively cheap compared to cigarettes. This is certainly not the case in other countries. This is simply damn Swedish.

But that is not enough. 

As these products take over the shelves of our convenience stores and petrol stations, the next generation is also discovering smokeless nicotine. What was once only available in vejp shops and risky convenience stores is now in every other shop. We can think what we like about this, but the market (we) speak with our wallets and there is clearly a demand for disposable vejps and nicotine pouches that taste of everything from peach to tarred boat (although the latter is not a big seller).

Same same but different

So what does this mean? Of course, the use of nicotine is changing even among those who cannot buy it legally - young people.

It may sound a bit harsh, but anyone who started smoking in their early teens knows how it works. The cigar has always been a symbol. Cool? Rock n roll? Liberated? Decadent? Whatever. The cigarette may not have been that damn good, but the nicotine gave an odd kick and somewhere some of us (including yours truly) became part of a new social context, in smoking boxes, under fans, in smoking rooms. Cigarettes mean so much more than just peer pressure, bowing to a ruthless tobacco industry, lifelong addiction or a slow death. It can equally be described in terms of new contacts, friendships, relationships and opportunities. For young people, this is part of life. And young people, especially those of us who lived 'a little bit at risk' (as socionomists and sociologists like to put it) have hardly changed between generations.

No, it's not a disaster, NSG

År 2025, när vi vuxna ojjar oss över skärmtider och porrsajter, är det istället lite ball att dela på en dosa trockaderosnus med kompisarna. Kanske bjuda någon på en vejp som någon äldre kompis langade ut, men som “inte visste vilken du ville ha så du fick en av varje” (typ 12). Nya saker, prylar man egentligen inte får hålla på med, men inte desto mindre lite coolt, lite dekadent, något som skapar nya kontaktyror, nya vänner, skapar livet, även om det är “lite i riskzonen.”

This is the situation in Sweden. And probably in many other countries too. 

And it need not be a disaster. Even if some bureaucratic activists at the Public Health Agency or PR-trained pundits from the Non Smoking Generation would have us believe so.

Regulate wisely - or fail

As a society, we are well placed to deal with this development, much better than those we had to deal with when cigarette smoking was on the rise. But we need to wake up and realise that neither smokers nor, for that matter, nicotine-craving young people have really changed much between generations. Not the way we want them to, anyway.

What we can do, however, is to make sure that this odious behaviour does not at least lead to suffering and death, which cigarette smoking undoubtedly paved the way for. 

We need to ensure that the crop of 'new' nicotine products that dominate the market today (black and white) are as safe as they can be. And we don't do that with sweeping bans, rhetorical debates about how some industry wants to "addict a new generation" to nicotine, or fuzzy studies that exaggerate the risks of one product or another. Stop that nonsense. 

Feel free to ban - but choose the right ban

Get the message instead. Regulate on the basis of knowledge, not with some confused scare tactic that stems from a prevention ideology. These are products made in a lab, in a factory, where every part or ingredient is interchangeable. It's like an open door to making demands.

Bort med det som är bevisligen skadligt. Förbjud inte en smaksättning för att den smakar “för gott”. Men om en ingrediens i en e-vätska eller nikotinpåse orsakar allergiska reaktioner hos många, se till att reglera bort den. Om ett nytt material i en förångare visar sig reagera illa med en vanlig ingrediens i en e-vätska, se till att den inte får säljas på marknaden.

Minimising risks

Demand product safety, but also demand independent testing, keep your ear to the market and ensure a clear regulatory framework and thus a clear, but safe and regulated, supply of smokeless nicotine products. Youth smoking can never be eradicated, but we can at least keep our young people away from a large part of the risks. And in return, we get relatively safe nicotine consumption that allows adult consumers to actually use nicotine in the way we choose.

Brats are and always will be brats

I am fairly confident that we can protect the new generation from the most harmful nicotine use. But it will require more real action, a harm reduction system, and less stigmatised prevention. 

We are well on the way in Sweden, cigarettes are being marginalised in our shops, smoking is declining, smokers are getting the chance to take their lives back, even if the youngsters behave like brats (which they probably SHOULD). That is a good sign. Don't let it be stopped. Instead, capitalise on it. And let's keep being fucking Swedish.

See you in Almedalen!
Are you there? Come and talk nicotine with us!

“Vem ska företräda snuset i EU om inte svenskarna själva?”

Participants:
- Stefan Mathisson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Vejpkollen

- Samuel Lundell, Founder and Chairman, Snusarnas Riksförbund

- Tobias Andersson, Chairman of the Industry Committee, Sweden Democrats, SD

- Carissa Düring, Director, Considerate Pouchers

Where: Diplomat Garden, Strandgatan 30
Time: Wednesday 25 June, 13.00-14.00
https://gotland.se/rg/almedalsveckan/evenemang-almedalsveckan/2025/136

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And finally, some reading tips for the summer:

“Vaping – Behind the smoke and fears” by Canadian physician Mark Tyndall - a rebuttal to the aggressive anti-tobacco movement, the resistance to harm reduction (both in addiction treatment, in HIV prevention and in the tobacco control apparatus).

“Lighten the weight on your shoulders” by Swedish physician Fredrik Nyström. A cavalcade of studies in which Nyström presents the results of years of research on health, what works and doesn't work to live well. The section on nicotine, blood pressure and how the politicised view of smoke-free nicotine is likely to lead to poorer health for many individuals is, to say the least, as controversial as it is liberating.