People from all over the world have different addictions. A larger number of them are legal. Some smoke cannabis sativa (looking at you, Dutchies) while others eat smelly cheese (salut French). Swedes, however, are addicted to something else – snus.
If you are a Swede or have been to Sweden, you may have noticed that some Swedes carry a small round container in their pockets. It is roughly the size of a candy tin or an ice hockey puck. It contains nothing sweet, but for most Swedes, it contains something more desirable than candy.
Swedes put tobacco loosely portioned in their mouths. If they don’t want to keep on looking around like a drooping dog while talking, they insert tiny pillows that look like small tea-bags containing snus.
Snus privileges
Generally, snus is forbidden to be sold in most European Union countries. However, Sweden successfully won additional selling-privileges because of the heavy lobby in Brussels. A pro snus consumer would have argued, “If we stop buying and selling snus in Sweden, people will turn to smoking, and have to go out in the cold to do so.
That means they have to leave their desks even during work hours. We are likely to lose 1 billion Swedish crowns annually in GNP, and that amount we will request from European Union to be subsidized. Do you European Union parliamentarians want that?”.
Snus legalized – problem solved!
Currently, there are many snus retailers in Sweden and many consumers as well. For those living abroad wanting to either give this product a go, or a veteran snus user looking for a place to buy snus, Snus Direct is a well-reputed company that provides customer with snus on global scale.
Snus consumption
Approximately one in every four Swedish men consumes three to five cans of snus weekly. In fact, snus consumption is more common than smoking. It is totally common that a man in Sweden – in the middle of an important conversion – puts a finger into his mouth to remove or reposition a small snus bag. He will either put the used snus bag in an additional compartment from used snus-bags in his can or put it in a trash can.
Some people believe that snus could be the reason some Swedes talk slightly weird. If you have a snus-bag in your mouth, it will prevent your lips from moving freely. This seems to be a good excuse for people in Sweden to speak even less than they usually do.
One of the most interesting facts about snus consumers is that they rarely disturb those around them. This is foremost due to the fact that they can get nicotine without lighting anything that can produce smoke, which most likely will disturb their surroundings. Now even more than before since smoking has become rather tabu in many cultures.
Snus is so ingrained in the Swedish culture that when Sweden joined the European Union in 1995, the nation was granted privileges to continue manufacturing and selling snus. Most people at that time said that if the European Union had banned the production and consumption snus in Sweden, the nation would not have joined the EU. If this does not make you wanna join this love story with snus, I do not know what will.
