The World Briefly

June 05, 2023

Goodbye, Marlboro Man

Sweden

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Sweden will soon become “smoke free,” as the number of daily smokers in the European country continues to drop thanks to decades of anti-smoking campaigns, laws, and the prevalence of smokeless tobacco products, CBS News reported.

With a population of more than 10 million, the European Union nation will see the percentage of daily smokers dip below five percent in the near future – earning the label “smoke free.”

Sweden has already seen a decline in smokers in recent years: Data from the Eurostat statistic agency showed that only 6.4 percent of Swedes over the age of 15 were daily smokers in 2019 – the lowest in the EU.

Last year, the Public Health Agency found that the proportion of smokers had fallen to 5.6 percent.

Analysts suggested that anti-smoking campaigns, laws, and taxes have made the sight of people lighting up a very rare occurrence. Smoking is banned at bus stops, train platforms, hospital entrances, and outside other public buildings.

The country has also banned smoking in outdoor seating areas and venues.

Others noted that Swedes have also replaced cigarettes with “snus,” an alternative product similar to dipping tobacco in the United States. Although snus is banned in the EU, it is marketed in Sweden as a less harmful alternative to cigarette smoking.

Still, health officials are reluctant to advise smokers to switch to snus, which is a highly addictive nicotine product linked to a number of health risks, including an increased risk of heart disease.

While Sweden is close to becoming smoke-free, Canada also recently took some extra steps to decrease tobacco use to less than five percent by 2035, CNN added.

Canadian health authorities will now require health warnings to be printed on every cigarette – the first country in the world to do so.

The warnings – both in French and English – are aimed at helping adults quit smoking, and protecting young people and non-tobacco users from nicotine addiction, as well as “to further reduce the appeal of tobacco,” officials noted.

This story originally appeared in the June 05, 2023 newsletter, Enmity, Long and Deep.