Smoking Ban Snuffed Out
By Emma Norman
In advance of the ban on smoking in enclosed public places, London smokers are turning to snuff it’s been reported. Yes, for you nicotine addicts out there it looks like there could still be a way for you to get your fix whilst remaining in the warm comfort of your local hostelry, hand still firmly clasped to your pint glass.
But, we hear the kids cry, what exactly is it, where do you put it and what happens to it once you’ve put it there?
Well this all depends on where you are. Here in the UK, snuff is powdered tobacco milled to various consistencies and flavours (including strawberry or peppermint!) depending on your fancy. A small pinch of it is inhaled through the nose. It then eventually reappears in your hanky (apparently best not to use your favourite white one!) Nice. In the US for example, it is more typically moist, put in the mouth between cheek and gum or behind your lips and eventually spat out. Charming.
Snuff appears throughout history in cultures across the globe, with the likelihood that Portugese/Spanish explorers arriving home from South America first introduced it to Europe in the 16th Century. It’s said to have become fashionable in England in the 16th and 17th centuries and was a favourite amongst both gentlemen and the ladies. It later became popular with miners in the absence of being allowed to smoke in the mines.
In recent times snuff’s popularity has waned, especially in the UK and US. However, city slickers in the big smoke (soon to be called the big sniff?) now seem to be following in the footsteps of our non-smoke producing Scandinavian cousins in Sweden and Norway? Over there “Snus” is the smokeless tobacco increasingly being used as a cigarette replacement. It's a moist ‘plug’ of tobacco placed behind the upper lip.
It’s been popular in Sweden for yonks. Traditionally seen as the tobacco product of choice for the working class, it’s recently been re-marketed and has now become a fashion accessory for the young and trendy. Sold in small pouches that look like mini teabags, it’s seen as cleaner and healthier, and is now a favourite amongst the fashion conscious young on higher incomes. Sales soared in Norway when a ban on smoking in public places was introduced in June 2004.
Although oral snuff is banned in the EU (except Sweden), other forms of smokeless tobacco, such as snuff you sniff, are allowed. There’s much debate about its health impacts. As with other forms of tobacco, it contains nicotine so is highly addictive and there’s the risk of carcinogens and other toxins. There is some suggestion that sniff snuff might actually be the worst form of tobacco for your health (boring but important article from a lesser news agency). Snuff does contain a whole bunch of nasty chemicals, including polonium 210 - the stuff that the Russians used to poison Alexander Litvinenko a little while ago.
Radiation poisoning not withstanding, it sounds like this old favourite may once again grace the pubs of English socialites. I’m not sure how sitting there sniffing a pile of tobacco and then blowing your nose with a dark paisley handkerchief will ever reach the height of youthful cool, but in the absence of warm weather I have a feeling that nicotine will prevail!
But, we hear the kids cry, what exactly is it, where do you put it and what happens to it once you’ve put it there?
Well this all depends on where you are. Here in the UK, snuff is powdered tobacco milled to various consistencies and flavours (including strawberry or peppermint!) depending on your fancy. A small pinch of it is inhaled through the nose. It then eventually reappears in your hanky (apparently best not to use your favourite white one!) Nice. In the US for example, it is more typically moist, put in the mouth between cheek and gum or behind your lips and eventually spat out. Charming.
Snuff appears throughout history in cultures across the globe, with the likelihood that Portugese/Spanish explorers arriving home from South America first introduced it to Europe in the 16th Century. It’s said to have become fashionable in England in the 16th and 17th centuries and was a favourite amongst both gentlemen and the ladies. It later became popular with miners in the absence of being allowed to smoke in the mines.
In recent times snuff’s popularity has waned, especially in the UK and US. However, city slickers in the big smoke (soon to be called the big sniff?) now seem to be following in the footsteps of our non-smoke producing Scandinavian cousins in Sweden and Norway? Over there “Snus” is the smokeless tobacco increasingly being used as a cigarette replacement. It's a moist ‘plug’ of tobacco placed behind the upper lip.
It’s been popular in Sweden for yonks. Traditionally seen as the tobacco product of choice for the working class, it’s recently been re-marketed and has now become a fashion accessory for the young and trendy. Sold in small pouches that look like mini teabags, it’s seen as cleaner and healthier, and is now a favourite amongst the fashion conscious young on higher incomes. Sales soared in Norway when a ban on smoking in public places was introduced in June 2004.
Although oral snuff is banned in the EU (except Sweden), other forms of smokeless tobacco, such as snuff you sniff, are allowed. There’s much debate about its health impacts. As with other forms of tobacco, it contains nicotine so is highly addictive and there’s the risk of carcinogens and other toxins. There is some suggestion that sniff snuff might actually be the worst form of tobacco for your health (boring but important article from a lesser news agency). Snuff does contain a whole bunch of nasty chemicals, including polonium 210 - the stuff that the Russians used to poison Alexander Litvinenko a little while ago.
Radiation poisoning not withstanding, it sounds like this old favourite may once again grace the pubs of English socialites. I’m not sure how sitting there sniffing a pile of tobacco and then blowing your nose with a dark paisley handkerchief will ever reach the height of youthful cool, but in the absence of warm weather I have a feeling that nicotine will prevail!
Image: Gerald Zuckier/W
Your Say:
London smokers are turning to snuff. But, it's nasal snuff. You can buy nasal snus "Snus Ice" and "Toque Tobacco" in old fashioned London tobacconists. I used it to stop smoking.
Roderick, location unknown
London smokers are turning to snuff. But, it's nasal snuff. You can buy nasal snus "Snus Ice" and "Toque Tobacco" in old fashioned London tobacconists. I used it to stop smoking.
Roderick, location unknown
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