Outlawing the healthy alternative…
No, not the electronic cigarette, although we believe that is highly likely that the e-cigarette will be banned in time, but smokeless tobacco.
It is not a new story, but one highly relevant today.
Smokeless tobacco was outlawed in the UK and the rest of Europe apart from Sweden, which has more sense.
This is because of a EU directive passed in 2004.
An illogical law
The director of Ash UK stated:
“The Advocate General’s opinion does little to resolve the contradictory, illogical law on tobacco which leaves cigarettes legal while snus, which is over 100 times less harmful, is banned.”
Source: Ash UK
The European Court’s ruling left tobacco legal, but outlawed smokeless tobacco.
Yet look at the difference it made in the one country in Europe it has been allowed in – in particular pay attention to the rates of lung cancer on the middle graph.
Health Campaigners: Missing the Point
Many public health campaigners have slammed smokeless tobacco as damaging to health, and emphasised the risk of causing mouth cancer.
But they are missing the point.
The point, as with the e-cigarette, is not to market this to non-smokers, but to those who can’t or won’t give up a far more unhealthy alternative. But then, as Clive Bates, former directory of Ash UK points out:
true to form, the well paid and comfortably smug public health community refuses to accept this concept and adopts a counter-productive prohibitionist stance – hoping naively that if people have a choice between quitting and dying, they’ll choose to quit. Inconveniently, tobacco is highly addictive, so many wont or can’t choose to quit and will die.
Source: Killing by the Million – and that’s just the health campaigners! (PDF)
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SMOKELESS TOBACCO IS NOT PROHIBITED IN THE EU!
According to EU legislation ‘tobacco for oral use’ is illegal. However, ‘oral use’ “…means products for oral use EXCEPT those intended to be smoked or chewed…” (Article 2.4 of Directive 2001/37 of 5th June 2001).
Perhaps the misunderstanding from ASH (and many others) originates from the general perception of what “smokeless tobacco” is. While it is true that the Swedish type of snus (in small sachets) is illegal, chewing tobacco (and nasal snuff) is not – and surely these types of tobacco are smokeless! For more information visit http://www.oliver-twist.com
Yes, sorry, we mean Snus.
That is funny and sad that they get info so wrong. The usa conspiracy theories and all. Anyway of course smokeless tobacco is legal in europe and the stats out here in sweden are way not as seen in that blog or site. This is something like the american sites talking of things they do not know about. Even when I was in the usa I knew more of what went on out here than most in the usa.
Sweden happens to be rated well on longest living people and fewest with cancer or any kinds of illness ect. the snus was made here and sold first before they allowed it in the usa and is not the unhealthy crap in it.
anyway forget it they are not worth the time to correct for most can not read if they post such wrong shit!
I think it is worth correcting – not for the people who are spreading the misinformation, but for the people who might not otherwise switch to better alternatives.
this is probably a very old article but anyway. e-cigarettes don’t contain tobacco
Hi Jay, The article was about smokeless tobacco not e-cigarettes.