Snus, nicotine sachets which are consumed orally, is becoming increasingly popular among the Belgian youth, worrying health experts.
In Scandinavian countries, they are called the Snus and they have been around for a long time. These small sachets filled with nicotine and tobacco are discreetly wedged between the gums and teeth.
They release a large dose of nicotine (up to the equivalent of 25 cigarettes) with a relaxing effect. Like cigarettes, they cause addiction and tobacco-related cancers.
While this product is illegal in Belgium, the tobacco industry has circumvented the laws preventing its sale by manufacturing a tobacco-free version, a purely nicotine pouch, which is causing alarm as it is becoming very popular with young people here.
Related News
- Those cured of serious illness could get affordable insurance after 5 years
- Cough syrup taken off shelves due to allergy risk
- Preventive monkeypox vaccines available in Brussels Pacheco centre from tomorrow
This tobacco-free Snus removes the risk of tobacco-related cancer, experts are concerned that the addiction factor remains, which can be damaging in itself and could be a gateway activity which leads young people to take up smoking.
"For a smoker, it's a way to do without tobacco by lowering the cancer risk factor," explains Adrien Meunier, a tobacconist from Liège. “But for young people there are other risks.”
These nicotine pouches are being sold over the counter in Liège and elsewhere in Belgium. "We find them in night shops, for a fiver, in colourful boxes with tastes like cola, strawberry, piña colada,” says Meunier.
And who is the target audience? "Young people," he explained, "and the more nicotine a young person consumes, the more there is a risk of addiction, and the more addicted they become the greater risk there is in terms."
