Friend just returned from a business trip to Europe and claims that smokeless tobacco is not for sale there, banned for health concerns. Is this for real? I was surrounded by cigarette smoke on my own trips to Europe, it seems to be the cultural norm to smoke cigs. So it seems bizzare to me that smokeless tobacco would be banned while cigarettes are as common as candy.
I believe, of the EU, it’s only available in Sweden. It’s definitely OK in Norway, which isn’t in the EU, as a Norwegian colleague of mine used to bring about 200 tubs with him whenever he returned from visiting home.
Sorry, missed the “snuff” part of that.
But Skoal Bandits, etc. are indeed outlawed according to this from the Guardian in 2006:
Wait, so snuff (dip) is legal in Britain, but snus isn’t? That seems wierd.
I 'm just not getting the logic of tobacco laws in the EU.
I’m also still fuzzy on exactly what they are. Cigarettes are legal and are in fact a cultural norm. Cigars, I assume are also legal. But snus is illegal everywhere in the EU, except Sweden, and snuff is legal only in certain other EU member nations. Is this correct? And what possible logic could there be to this? All tobacco is health hazardous, but I’d think steam-cured snus would be far less toxic than cigarettes.
Snuff for the nose, not dipping snuff.
OK, that makes a little more sense. So it’s ok to smoke tobacco, and snort it, but don’t suck on it or chew it. Is there a European cultural objection to dipping or is it really a health concern?
Probably a bit of both, with some mouth cancer hysteria thrown in.
You can buy snuff in my local corner shop (Ireland, Europe). Only old women and hipstery people buy it though and even then, rarely.