Misleader of the Year 2025

For Swedish, see: https://www.vof.se/utmarkelser/arets-forvillare-2025/

The Snus Commission is appointed Misleader of the Year 2025 by the Swedish Skeptics Association

Statement of reasons

Snus is a traditional Swedish tobacco product consumed by placing tobacco or a pouch containing tobacco under the lip where nicotine is absorbed through the thin mucosa. During the past several years, nicotine-containing pouches without tobacco, so-called white snus, have been intensely marketed, mostly by tobacco companies, as a tobacco-free alternative to tobacco smoking.

The Snus Commission is appointed Misleader of the Year 2025 for repeated misleading claims about nicotine. The Snus Commission emphasizes that white snus can help tobacco addicts reduce their tobacco use. However, statistics show that most people who use white snus are young people who have not previously used tobacco. The Snus Commission thereby contributes to making many young people and young adults addicted to nicotine, perhaps for the rest of their lives. This has negative consequences for the health, behavior and finances of nicotine addicts.

Tomas Furmark

The Snus Commission conveys a strongly biased image of the use of white snus, says Tomas Furmark, professor of psychology at Uppsala University and board member of the Swedish Skeptics Association. The Snus Commission ignores that nicotine quickly leads to addiction, especially in young people and especially in young women. Such selected information can be considered disinformation.

The Snus Commission was started in 2015 and is financed by the Snus Manufacturers’ Association which consists of companies in Sweden that manufacture, market and sell snus. The Snus Commission explains its relationship to the Snus Manufacturers’ Association as follows:

The Commission’s conclusions are independent of its financiers, and they have therefore not had the opportunity to participate in meetings or to comment on the content of the reports.
The Snus Commission’s purpose is said to be to combat smoking by advocating snus as a less harmful alternative. In particular, the Snus Commission has argued for white snus as a way for smokers to switch to a less harmful alternative.

White snus was launched around 2016. The nicotine dose varies within the range of 2-20 milligrams per portion, but higher doses are available (Testfakta, Tobacco Facts, see links below). The dose is often higher than brown snus, which is usually in the range of 6-10 mg per serving. The Snus Commission has, like other organizations, advocated an upper limit for the nicotine dose. But nicotine is addictive also at lower doses.

Nicotine has several negative health effects. First and foremost, nicotine can quickly lead to addiction in the user, especially in young people. Nicotine causes increased heart rate and blood pressure, ulcers, blisters and other damage to the oral mucosa (see link to Tobacco Facts below). Nicotine can affect the development of the brain and lungs in the fetus. Addiction causes withdrawal with irritability, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, difficulty sleeping, restlessness, depression and increased appetite (diagnostic criteria according to DSM-5, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). In addition, withdrawal can cause impaired memory, nightmares and weight gain.

According to the latest figures from CAN, the Swedish Association for Alcohol and Drug Information, which were presented in November 2025 (Ramstedt, CAN report 238, 2025), sales of white snus have increased very sharply – by 20% from 2023 to 2024 and by 180% from 2021 to 2024. During the same period, tobacco smoking has remained relatively constant and sales of brown snus have decreased by approximately 10%. It was not clear what proportion of white snus users had previously used brown snus or who smoked or used multiple forms of nicotine. It is difficult to interpret the figures in any other way than that total nicotine use has increased during the period 2021-2024 due to white snus.

The Snus Commission ignores statistics showing that the use of white snus is particularly common among young people who have not previously smoked (Public Health Agency 2024a; 2025b; Ramstedt, 2025). Marketing of white snus is aimed at new target groups, which leads to the recruitment of young people, especially women, into an often lifelong nicotine addiction. In the age group 16-29, the proportion of women who use snus daily has increased from 3% in 2018 to 18% in 2024 (Public Health Agency, 2024a). The proportion of smokers in this age group has remained constant at around 5%. Thus, it is not the case that snus use is increasing because smoking is decreasing, but rather that recruitment is mainly among those who do not smoke. Among 15-year-old girls, the proportion of snus users increased from 3% in 2019 to 14% in 2024, the vast majority of whom used white snus (CAN report 230, 2024).

In addition, the Snus Commission ignores the negative effects that nicotine itself causes in the form of addiction, withdrawal and damage to the mouth (see link to Tobacco Facts). Nicotine is considered, together with heroin, to be the most addictive substance. The risk of addiction when using nicotine has been reported to be 67.5%, which is significantly higher than alcohol (22.5%), cocaine (20.9%) or cannabis (8.9%) (Lopez-Quintero et al., 2011). Nicotine quickly causes physical addiction by affecting the brain’s reward system. Although the first intake of nicotine usually leads to nausea and even vomiting, signs of addiction can appear after just a few weeks of nicotine use (Larsson & Gilljam, 2022). Several studies have found that young people develop nicotine addiction faster than adults. When using e-cigarettes with a high dose of nicotine, addiction develops faster than with a low dose (Cho, 2025), which makes it likely that this will also happen when using white snus. The risk of nicotine addiction is higher in women than in men (Cougle et al., 2016; Perkins & Scott, 2008; Rahmanian et al., 2011).

In addition, white snus is expensive, 35-45 SEK per package. Consumption of one package a day will mean an annual cost of about 12800-16400 SEK. With more moderate use, half a package a day, it is about 6000-8000 SEK per year. The strong addiction makes it very difficult to quit nicotine use and many nicotine users will struggle for the rest of their lives trying to reduce their intake or replace it with nicotine patches or nicotine chewing gum, which are also expensive (12-20 SEK per patch).

Many nicotine users have testified to the enormous difficulties that trying to quit using nicotine can entail. Snus user Björn Barr, editor at Svenska Dagbladet, has written about his ten-year struggle (250102):
https://www.svd.se/a/gwvoK5/lyckas-sluta-snusa-efter-20-ar-knepet-som-funkade
https://tobaksfakta.se/journalister-berattar-om-kamp-mot-snusberoende/

His difficult struggle was also highlighted in Swedish Public Radio Broadcasting channel P1 morning 250108 with commentary by addiction expert Markus Heilig, professor of psychiatry:
https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/sa-klarar-du-nyarsloftet-och-abstinensen

Below are examples of claims from the Snus Commission followed by objections that can be made to their insidious argumentation (https://snuskommissionen.se/unga-borjar-snusa-foratt-sluta-roka-cigaretter/) after the survey they commissioned Demoskop to conduct 2024 and reported in May of the same year:

Their claim:
The single most common reason why young people (16-34 years old) start using snus is to stop smoking cigarettes. A full 25 percent of young people who use snus gave this reason for their decision to start using snus. This hardly corresponds to the image of young people as victims, and nothing that is worrying from a health point of view. Young people quitting smoking is the most important health-promoting measure they can take.

Our comments:

  • The result of the survey means that 75% of young people who use snus did not start using snus to stop smoking.
  • The selection of subjects is biased from the beginning because only those who already use snus were surveyed – not all young people or young people who have never smoked.
  • It is worrying from a health point of view that young people become addicted to nicotine.
  • CAN’s report 239 described that of young people who were asked if they wanted to quit smoking, 32% of boys and 19% of girls answered ”no” in 2019. Six years later, in 2025, as many as 53% of boys and 44% of girls answered ”no”. In connection with the increase in white snus, fewer smokers want to quit smoking. The proportion who have tried smoking increased for girls during the time period, but ”current use” decreased slightly. We speculate that the increase in white snus has led to greater acceptance of other nicotine products and has reduced risk awareness regarding cigarettes.

Their claim:
The survey shows that of those who currently use white snus, 34 percent would start smoking cigarettes or other similar tobacco products if white snus did not exist.

Our comments:

  • This is not an argument for marketing white snus. Instead, it shows that at least this proportion of those surveyed has become addicted to nicotine.
  • Hypothetical intentions are not evidence that smoking would actually increase. When the effect of limiting the use of e-cigarettes, for example through flavor restrictions, has been studied, no dramatic increase in smoking of tobacco cigarettes could be seen among young adults (Friedman et al., 2024).

Their claim:
The total nicotine consumption in society is not increasing. It has been stagnant since 2019, i.e. during the entire period when the consumption of white snus has skyrocketed. This can only be because other nicotine consumption has decreased to a corresponding extent. This has also happened as we smoke less and less. Those who warn of a dramatic increase in nicotine use in Sweden are therefore speaking against better knowledge, or based on a lack of knowledge.

Our comments:

  • The fact that the total number of smokers is decreasing is probably at least partly due to the fact that smokers in the older generation are dying.
  • Total nicotine use in Sweden has increased since 2011 when 23% had used some nicotine product in the last 30 days to 30% in 2024 for the age range 17-84 years (CAN report 234).
  • This means that there is a recruitment of new young nicotine users who risk lifelong nicotine addiction.

More quotes from the Snus Commission’s website:
The fact that we smoke so little is hardly due to smoking bans near outdoor cafes, expensive fines for those who smoke on the street and repulsive pictures on the packages. Smoking could never have been so low without an alternative.

Our comment:

  • Systematic compilations from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that tobacco control measures such as increased prices, advertising bans and smoke-free environments have an effect. Smoking has been decreasing for a long time, before white snus was available as an alternative, and even in countries without access to snus, such as Australia (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2025) and Canada (Statistics Canada, 2023).

People will always want to use products that are harmful, but with fun effects. In this case, harm minimization is the only successful way to reduce harm to reasonable levels.

Our comment:

  • Harm minimization can of course be good, but it is not the only successful way, and snus/white snus is hardly a harm minimization method that can be recommended from a public health point of view. What helps some may be harmful to many others. It is hardly the nicotine craving that attracts young people (non-smokers) to try white snus.

In addition to the Snus Commission, the companies that manufacture nicotine products have a great responsibility to provide correct information about the high risk of likely lifelong and difficult-to-treat addiction, especially when marketing is aimed at young people and in particular women.

Several Swedish politicians have actively lobbied for Swedish snus, not least white snus, to be sold in other countries. This is a cynical way of attracting young people to what could, in the worst case, become lifelong addiction.

Sources:

References:

    DSM-5, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition. American Psychiatric Association.

    Cho et al. Longitudinal patterns of e-cigarette use initiation and progression to frequent vaping from mid-to-late adolescence to young adulthood. Addiction 120:1571-1581, 2025. doi: 10.1111/add.70042

    Friedman AS, Pesko MF, Whitacre TR. Flavored E-Cigarette Sales Restrictions and Young Adult Tobacco Use. JAMA Health Forum. 2024 Dec 6;5(12):e244594. doi: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2024.4594. PMID: 39729302.

    Larsson M & Gilljam H. Tobacco addiction. Addiction medicine, 3rd edition, ed: Franck & Nylander. 201-219, 2022.

    Perkins, K. A., Scott, J., 2008. Sex differences in long-term smoking cessation rates due to nicotine patch. Nicotine Tob Res 10, 1245–1250.

    Rahmanian, S.D., P.T. Diaz, and M.E. Wewers, Tobacco use and cessation among women: research and treatment-related issues. J Womens Health (Larchmt), 2011. 20(3): p. 349-57./use-and-extent-of-andts-in-the-population/use-of-tobacco-and-nicotine-products/adult-use-of-tobacco-and-nicotine-products/

    Ramstedt M. Total consumption of cigarettes and snus in Sweden 2003–2024. Swedish National Association for Alcohol and Drug Education (CAN); 2025. Report 238.

    Selling L. CAN’s national school survey 2024. Young people’s experiences of alcohol, drugs, doping, tobacco and gambling. Swedish National Association for Alcohol and Drug Education (CAN); 2024. Report 230.

    Svensson A-L. Nicotine. Addiction medicine, 3rd edition, ed. Franck & Nylander. 191-200, 2022.

    Zetterqvist M. Self-reported smoking and snus habits 2003–2024. Swedish Association for Alcohol and Drug Information (CAN); 2025. Report 234.

Vetenskap och Folkbildning