Tobacco.org

• Swedish mother gave 3-year-old cigs and beer  

A mother in Sweden has been charged with abuse and breach of alcohol laws after coaxing her 3-year-old to have beer and cigarettes.

“If this gets on YouTube, I’ll swear I have no baby,” said the woman on mobile phone footage while lighting a cigarette for her 3–year-old son, according to local paper Sydsvenskan.

The transcript from the two films, shot by a friend of the woman, then shows that the mother started urging her son on.

“Take a toke then you little… inhale then… come on now. Inhale a little. Light it up now, for goodness sake, get the damned thing going.”

According to the paper, others then gave the boy a can of beer. The mother did not protest. They started joking about what would happen if the social services found out.

The mother allegedly told the boy not to tell them, called him a squealer and a snitch and flicked her fingers at his head.

The film shows the young boy coughing and the group laughing. He is encouraged to blow smoke in his mother’s mouth and she does the same to him. She then scolds him for not handling the cigarette right, according to the paper.

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Mom arrested for giving toddler cigarettes 

A Swedish woman has been charged with child abuse for allegedly giving her 3-year-old son beer and cigarettes, police say.

Sydsvenskan reported two cellphone videos show the woman, in the company of other adults, urging her son to smoke a cigarette. She allegedly told the child: "Take a toke then you little … inhale then … come on now. Inhale a little. Light up now, for goodness sake, get the damned thing going." . . .

"If this gets on YouTube, I'll swear I have no baby," she was quoted as saying.

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Industry Documents Expose Nordic Tobacco Companies' Conspiratorial Behavior  

In the 1970s, Nordic countries were among the first to adopt policies against tobacco, like bans on cigarette advertising, health warning labels and smoke-free laws, but U.S.-owned tobacco companies, and particularly Philip Morris, makers of Marlboro, became concerned such polices could spread to America and other developed countries where they sold cigarettes. Also, Europe's first product liability case against the tobacco industry occurred in Finland in 1988, when a smoker sued several companies claiming their products caused his illness, causing even more concern for global tobacco companies. To help escape product liability claims, Nordic tobacco companies -- like Amer Tobacco and Rettig, which distributed Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds brands, respectively -- long claimed to be ignorant of, and denied participation in the multinational tobacco companies' global strategies to undermine anti-tobacco policies, but industry documents reveal the truth -- that smaller Nordic tobacco companies did, in fact, participate in the multinational companies’ long-time conspiracy to deny the health dangers of smoking and undermine anti-tobacco policies, helping delay key effective tobacco control measures, and particularly smoke-free laws, for years.

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How online sales and promotion of snus contravenes current European Union legislation  

Results

The majority of online vendors operate from Sweden and target non-Swedish EU citizens. Test purchases were successfully made in all 10 EU Member States; of 43 orders placed, only two failed. Age verification relied only on self-report. The majority of sales applied Swedish taxes, contrary to EU requirements. Copious sales promotion activities, many price based, are incorporated in these websites contravening the EU regulation, and three test purchases were delivered with gifts.

Conclusions

Snus is currently being sold on the single market via the internet in contravention of Swedish legislation and three EU Directives. The apparent willingness of the tobacco industry to contravene EU and Swedish legislation and profit from unlawful sales raises questions about their status as stakeholders in consultations on future policy developments. The findings highlight how national and regional tobacco control legislation can be undermined in an increasingly globalised world.

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• Smokeless tobacco sold illegally online, UK researchers find 

Researchers from the University of Bath Tobacco Control Research Group have found that the tobacco product snus can still be purchased on the internet in the EU despite sales being illegal.

Snus is a smokeless tobacco product that originates from Scandinavia, which comes in loose form or in tiny pouches similar to teabags. It is consumed by placing it under the lip for extended periods of time.

It was one of the smokeless tobacco products of which sales were made illegal in the European Union (EU) in 1992 due to health concerns linked to the product.

Only Sweden, where snus is considered a 'traditional' product, was given an exemption to this ban, provided it ensured that snus would not be placed for sale on the markets of other EU countries.

This sales ban was reaffirmed in the 2001 EU Tobacco Products Directive which is currently under review.

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• How online sales and promotion of snus contravenes current European Union legislation  

The European Union (EU) Tobacco Products Directive that bans sales of snus (a form of oral tobacco) in EU countries other than Sweden is currently under review. Major tobacco companies favour the ban being overturned. This study aims to explore compliance with the current ban on snus sales and examines the conduct of online snus vendors, including their compliance with two other EU Directives on excise and tobacco advertising and Swedish legislation banning sales of snus outside Sweden. . . .

Conclusions

Snus is currently being sold on the single market via the internet in contravention of Swedish legislation and three EU Directives. The apparent willingness of the tobacco industry to contravene EU and Swedish legislation and profit from unlawful sales raises questions about their status as stakeholders in consultations on future policy developments. The findings highlight how national and regional tobacco control legislation can be undermined in an increasingly globalised world.

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No link found between prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke and autism, Swedish study finds 

A large population-based study in Sweden indicates that there is no link between smoking during pregnancy and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children. The study, led by Dr. Brian Lee, an assistant professor at Drexel University and a team of international collaborators, will appear in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders and was published online in December.

Researchers have considered a variety of chemical exposures in the environment during pregnancy and early life as possible contributing factors in the development of autism spectrum disorders. Many have considered prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke a possible cause due to known associations with behavioral disorders and obstetric complications. Past studies of maternal smoking and autism have had mixed results.

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• No Link Found Between Prenatal Exposure to Tobacco Smoke and Autism 

A large population-based study in Sweden indicates that there is no link between smoking during pregnancy and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children. The study, led by Dr. Brian Lee, an assistant professor at Drexel University and a team of international collaborators, will appear in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders and was published online in December.

Researchers have considered a variety of chemical exposures in the environment during pregnancy and early life as possible contributing factors in the development of autism spectrum disorders. Many have considered prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke a possible cause due to known associations with behavioral disorders and obstetric complications. Past studies of maternal smoking and autism have had mixed results.

“We found no evidence that maternal smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of autism spectrum disorders,” said Lee, an epidemiologist at Drexel’s School of Public Health, who led the research in collaboration with researchers from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and the University of Bristol (Bristol, UK). “Past studies that showed an association were most likely influenced by social and demographic factors such as income and occupation that have associations with both the likelihood of smoking and with the rate of autism spectrum disorders.”

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• Local Nordic tobacco interests collaborated with multinational companies to maintain a united front and undermine tobacco control policies [FREE FULL TEXT] 

Implications for the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Article 20 of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control commits parties to promote and facilitate the exchange of information regarding practices of the tobacco industry.193 In implementing this requirement, it is essential for parties to focus on the operations of the multinational companies and on local tobacco companies and their organisations. Local companies may claim ignorance of multinational companies' strategies to undermine tobacco control while implementing those strategies secretly. . . .

Conclusions

Global tobacco control is contingent on diffusion of policy innovations and more comprehensive tobacco control policies. Local tobacco companies in the Nordic countries participated in the multinational companies' conspiracy to deny health dangers of smoking and oppose tobacco control measures because of the direct effects in Nordic countries and because of concern that such policies would spread to other countries. They worked individually and through NMAs with multinational companies to undermine tobacco control. As a result, tobacco control measures, particularly smoke-free laws, were delayed for several years. The local tobacco companies have publicly claimed ignorance of multinational tobacco company strategies while in fact they are implementing them vigorously. These experiences emphasise the importance for both sides of the debate of setting and defending precedents in tobacco control. They also demonstrate that in local debates over Framework Convention on Tobacco Control implementation, public health advocates and government officials cannot trust assertions by local tobacco companies that they are simply representing local interests, not those of the multinational tobacco companies.

What this paper adds

Tobacco companies and national manufacturer associations in Nordic countries have claimed that they have not been part of multinational tobacco companies' strategies to deny health hazards of smoking and undermine tobacco control as part of a successful effort to avoid liability for tobacco-induced disease and to oppose tobacco control policies.

Multinational tobacco companies engaged local tobacco companies in the Nordic countries to ensure a uniform position in denying health dangers of smoking and opposing tobacco control measures because of the direct effects in Nordic countries and because of concern that such policies would spread to other countries. The Nordic experience demonstrates the importance of setting and defending both good and bad precedents in tobacco control for both sides of the debate. It also demonstrates that in local debates over Framework Convention on Tobacco Control implementation, public health advocates and government officials cannot trust assertions by local tobacco companies that they are simply representing local interests, not those of the multinational tobacco companies.

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Local Nordic tobacco interests collaborated with multinational companies to maintain a united front and undermine tobacco control policies  

Objective

To analyse how local tobacco companies in the Nordic countries, individually and through National Manufacturers' Associations, cooperated with British American Tobacco and Philip Morris in denying the health hazards of smoking and undermining tobacco control.

Methods

Analysis of tobacco control policies in the Nordic countries and tobacco industry documents.

Results

Nordic countries were early adopters of tobacco control policies. The multinational tobacco companies recognised this fact and mobilised to oppose these policies, in part because of fear that they would set unfavourable precedents. Since at least 1972, the Nordic tobacco companies were well informed about and willing to participate in the multinational companies activities to obscure the health dangers of smoking and secondhand smoke and to oppose tobacco control policies. Cooperation between multinational companies, Nordic national manufacturer associations and local companies ensured a united front on smoking and health issues in the Nordic area that was consistent with the positions that the multinational companies were taking. This cooperation delayed smoke-free laws and undermined other tobacco control measures.

Conclusions

Local tobacco companies worked with multinational companies to undermine tobacco control in distant and small Nordic markets because of concern that pioneering policies initiated in Nordic countries would spread to bigger market areas. Claims by the local Nordic companies that they were not actively involved with the multinationals are not supported by the facts. These results also demonstrate that the industry appreciates the global importance of both positive and negative public health precedents in tobacco control.

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Who is using snus? - Time trends, socioeconomic and geographic characteristics of snus users in the ageing Swedish population. 

Background

The prevalence of smoking in Sweden has decreased in recent decades, and is now among the lowest in the world. During the same period, the use of Swedish moist oral snuff, a smokeless tobacco called snus, has increased. Few studies have evaluated time trends of the socioeconomic and geographic characteristics of snus users in Sweden. This paper contributes to filling that gap. . . .

Conclusions

A disadvantaged social profile and also higher prevalence in rural areas is observed among male snus users who had never smoked or were previous smokers. Among male smokers there was no association between SES and use of snus. The prevalence of snus use among women is increasing, but is still considerably lower than that of men. The association between snus and SES characteristics is less pronounced among women, although snus is clearly linked to living alone. These patterns should be taken into consideration in tobacco control policies.

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Who is using snus? - Time trends, socioeconomic and geographic characteristics of snus users in the ageing Swedish population. 

The prevalence of smoking in Sweden has decreased in recent decades, and is now among the lowest in the world. During the same period, the use of Swedish moist oral snuff, a smokeless tobacco called snus, has increased.

Few studies have evaluated time trends of the socioeconomic and geographic characteristics of snus users in Sweden. This paper contributes to filling that gap.

Methods: This study utilized the Linnaeus Database, which links national registers with comprehensive individual data on socioeconomic status (SES) to health data from a large ongoing health survey, the Vasterbotten Intervention Programme (VIP). . . .

Conclusions: A disadvantaged social profile and also higher prevalence in rural areas is observed among male snus users who had never smoked or were previous smokers.

Among male smokers there was no association between SES and use of snus. The prevalence of snus use among women is increasing, but is still considerably lower than that of men.

The association between snus and SES characteristics is less pronounced among women, although snus is clearly linked to living alone. These patterns should be taken into consideration in tobacco control policies.

Author: Margareta NorbergGunnar MalmbergNawi NgGöran Broström Credits/Source: BMC Public Health 2011, 11:929

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• EU promises Sweden it will review snus ban -report  

The European Commission has promised Sweden it will take another look at its ban of tobacco product snus, which is allowed in Sweden but banned in the rest of the European Union, the Swedish trade minister was quoted as saying.

Swedish Match is Europe's biggest producer of snus, which is sold as small pouches of tobacco that are put under the lip.

Newspaper Dagens Nyheter said on Wednesday that Trade Minister Ewa Bjorling had met EU Health Commissioner John Dalli and discussed the results of a survey of EU states about current tobacco laws.

"He promised to take another look at what the survey showed and at developments in Sweden," she told the daily.

Sweden says it has a lower proportion of deaths from lung cancer than in other EU states and a lower level of smokers.

Dagens Nyheter has reported that its own examination of the answers to the Commission's survey showed that a majority of people in member states wanted to end the snus ban, even if most members states supported keeping it.

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Smoking increases complication rates following acute ankle fracture 

Smoking can increase postoperative complication risk in patients operatively treated for acute ankle fractures, according to this study from Swedish researchers.

The team performed a cohort study with prospective follow-up on a consecutive series of 906 patients who underwent operative treatment for an acute ankle fracture during a 3 year period. The patients were separated into two categories: smokers (185) and non-smokers (721). Investigators collected data on the patients through a departmental database and conducted a review of medical charts. . . .

“Smoking is a considerable risk factor,” the authors wrote. “Therefore, physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals should strive to support patients to stop smoking while still under acute treatment.”

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Which is worse in pregnancy, snuff or cigarettes? 

Babies born to snuff-using mothers were more likely to have breathing problems than those whose mothers smoked while pregnant, according to a Swedish study.

Snuff - ground tobacco that is high in nicotine but doesn't generate the same additional chemicals as cigarette smoke because it's not burned - is generally assumed to be safer than cigarettes, said lead researcher Anna Gunnerbeck, from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

That's still the case for many people, but it's not a good option for pregnant woman, she added.

"(It) may have a little bit different effect than smoking, because smoking has the combustion products, but it's still not safe during pregnancy," Gunnerbeck told Reuters Health. . . .

While snuff use is more common in Sweden than elsewhere, pregnant women in other countries may also use nicotine-containing products such as gum and patches, thinking they're safer than smoking during pregnancy.

"They're raising the concern that Swedish snuff, because it's largely nicotine, can be a surrogate for nicotine replacement therapy during pregnancy, that it might have untoward effects," said Michael Weitzman, who studies smoking in pregnancy at the New York University Medical Center.

Gunnerbeck said the study suggests that women should be urged to stop smoking without nicotine replacements during pregnancy, but added that if looking at the whole picture, smoking is generally more dangerous than using snuff.

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