In a Smoke Free Partnership webinar experts warned against the misleading lobby of the tobacco industry, which claims that Swedes smoke less thanks to snus and nicotine pouches. In reality, the lower smoking figures are due to a consistent tobacco control policy. However, nicotine use among young people is increasing enormously.

By the web editors

The tobacco industry is misleading the public with false claims about the success of the ‘Swedish Model’. The industry claims that the Swedes managed to get the numbers for smoking down because people were able to use snus and nicotine pouches. In reality, the strong long-term tobacco control policy in Sweden led to fewer people smoking. This was stated by experts from European countries and Kenya during the webinar ‘Sweden: Setting it Straight’ by Smoke Free Partnership earlier this week.

Sweden managed to get the smoking prevalence down considerably. This has been achieved through a coherent tobacco control policy that began in the 1960s, including limiting availability, reducing social acceptance through smoke-free schools, restaurants, bus stops and other outdoor spaces, advertising bans and taxes. “Higher excise duties are the best measure,” said Lisa Lennartsdotter Ermann, expert at the Swedish Cancer Foundation, during the webinar. In addition, Sweden has a national smoking cessation program for the population. Currently, 11 percent of Swedes smoke, with 5 percent smoking daily. 19 percent of young people smoke.

Deception by the tobacco industry

However, the tobacco industry, front organizations and some politicians are abusing this success in reducing the prevalence and speak of the ‘Swedish Model’, also called the ‘Swedish Experience’ or the ‘Swedish Example’. The industry claims that tobacco use has decreased in Sweden because there were alternatives such as snus (oral tobacco which is banned in the EU, but for which Sweden negotiated an exception) and later the tobacco-free nicotine pouches, which people could use instead of cigarettes. “However, there is no evidence for that,” said Lennartsdotter Ermann.

The expert showed a graph showing how the percentage of smokers in Sweden has steadily decreased since 2004. People also used less snus. But with the arrival of the nicotine pouches, the use of these types of products increased again from 2018 on. The increase is mainly among women and young people. The percentage of women who use nicotine pouches has more than doubled from 6 percent in 2016 to 13 percent in 2024. Among 15-year-old girls, the use of these products has increased from 3 percent to 14 percent.

It is mainly the young generation that has started using nicotine pouches and snus and it is not the smokers who are switching. “There is no evidence that the use of snus and e-cigarettes reduces long-term smoking,” says Lennartsdotter Ermann.

Nicotine epidemic among young people

Meanwhile, these products, which are little regulated, are causing major problems. In Sweden, one-third of young people now use nicotine pouches and/or e-cigarettes. They quickly become addicted and experience mental problems, said Helen Stjerna, secretary general of A Non-Smoking Generation in Sweden. “The sad truth is that nicotine pouches and snus are causing a nicotine epidemic among young people. The good news is that we know what we must do: taxes and regulation,” Stjerna said.

‘Quit like Sweden’

Karin Silver, deputy editor-in-chief of Tobacco Tactics at the University of Bath, pointed out that the four tobacco giants each have their own brand of snus and nicotine pouches. Market leader Philip Morris has ZYN, British American Tobacco has Velo, Japan Tobacco International produces Nordic Spirit, and Imperial Brands is the company behind Skruf/Zone. These companies have links with organizations and consultants who promote these products as ‘smoke-free’ and as a solution to the global tobacco epidemic. The ‘Quit like Sweden’ campaign, which spreads the industry’s misleading narrative that snus and nicotine pouches are a harm-reducing alternative for smokers, organised events in countries such as Brazil, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom. Despite the strong lobbying, governments are taking measures against these products.

France bans nicotine pouches

Amélie Eschenbrenner, communications manager at the French Comité National Contre le Tabagisme (CNCT), talked about the tests her organization did. These showed that the nicotine pouches contain heavy metals and have high nicotine levels. In France, a ban on nicotine pouches will apply from 1 April, to which the tobacco industry has already objected. Here too, the tobacco industry pushes the ‘Swedish Model’.

An example is the organization ‘Smoke Free Sweden’, which has recently been established in France and is conducting an aggressive campaign in which nicotine pouches are presented as ‘a life-saving tool in the war against smoking’. In 2023, TabakNee already described how Smoke Free Sweden was initiated by Health Diplomats, another front organization of the tobacco industry.

In France, Smoke Free Sweden now claims on its website that ‘international health experts’ ‘strongly condemn’ the French nicotine pouch ban. It would drive ‘millions of ex-smokers’ back to cigarettes and mean that users will be punishable. “The ban means that Swedes, who have reached the lowest smoking rates in Europe thanks to nicotine pouches and snus, are considered lawbreakers if they take their products on holiday to France,” the organisation writes.

Attempt to influence MPs

In the Netherlands, a legal ban on nicotine pouches has already been in place since January 1, 2025, which may not be sold or traded. Previously, a temporary de facto ban was already in place since the end of 2021. Here, too, attempts have been made to promote the ‘Swedish Model’. Dennis van Driel, advisor to the Dutch Heart Foundation, talked about the Swedish export promoter Business Sweden, in which the Swedish government and the business community work together. In 2024, they had planned an afternoon in Nieuwspoort about the ‘Swedish success story’ in which advocates of e-cigarettes, snus and nicotine pouches as tobacco alternatives would have their say. After TabakNee reported on this, parliamentarians stayed away. Except for one critical member of parliament from a left-wing party, who came to ‘spy’, according to Van Driel. The incident led to parliamentary questions in response to which then State Secretary Van Ooijen (VWS, CU) unequivocally spoke out against the oral nicotine products. “You have to stay on your guard”, Van Driel said during the webinar, because the industry continues to innovate, promote and influence.

Promotion in Kenya too

In Kenya, the industry went far too. British American Tobacco wanted to get a tax exemption to set up a factory for making nicotine pouches, said Celine Awuor, director of the International Institute for Legislative Affairs. Her organisation set up a campaign to prevent this. The Kenyan authorities did not agree to the tax exemption in 2019. But the industry “continues to use the Swedish Model to keep products affordable,” Awuor said. A year later, nicotine pouches, which were registered as a quitting aid product, were no longer classified as medicines. “There is a lot of struggle and push back,” said Awuor.

‘Protect EU policy from the Swedish Model’

Organisations are concerned that the misleading narrative of the ‘Swedish Model’ is also being used to influence EU policy. Erin Roman, Director of the Smoke Free Partnership, said: “As the EU prepares to revise the Tobacco Products Directive, it is crucial that policymakers understand what has really reduced smoking in Sweden and recognise the risks posed by poorly regulated nicotine products. Public health must take precedence over the messages of industry.”