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Snus is a moist powder Tobacco , a kind of Snuff . Snus is manufactured and mainly consumed in Sweden and Norway , where it is pronounced . The most usual way to consume snus is to place it beneath the upper lip, and keep it there for a time varying from a few minutes to several hours, according to taste. There are two main types of snus on the market:
Swedish snus is made from air dried tobacco from various parts of the world. In earlier times tobacco for making snus used to be laid out for drying in Scania and Mälardalen . Later Kentucky tobaccos were used. The ground tobacco is mixed with water, salt, Sodium Carbonate and aroma and is prepared through heating, generally via steam. Moist snus contain more than 50% water, and the average use of snus in Sweden is approximately 800 grams (16 units) per person per year. Unlike American-sold oral tobacco that has gone through a Fermentation process, snus has not. Snus is sold mainly in Sweden and Norway , but can be found in outlets in various other countries frequented by Scandinavian tourists (with the notable exception of countries in the EU; see below). It is sold in small tins, which in the earlier years were made of Porcelain , Wood , Silver or Gold , but nowadays come in compressed paper or plastic. They contain 50g of loose snus or 24g of portion bags. Portion snus is usually sold in plastic boxes and loose snus is sold in paper boxes. The price for the 50g product is approximately €2.50 in Sweden and €6.00 in Norway, and the total production of Swedish snus, mainly for the Scandinavian market, has been reported to be in excess of 300 million units per year. After the Norwegian government in June 2004 implemented a strict indoor smoking ban in public places, sales of snus skyrocketed, and several new variants of the product were put on the Norwegian market. When the Swedish government did the same thing in June 2005, sales of snus increased dramatically. HEALTH CONSEQUENCES Since snus is not intended nor recommended for inhalation, it does not affect the ic to humans", but a WHO committee on tobacco has also acknowledged that evidence is inconclusive regarding health consequences for snus consumers. Only Sweden and EFTA -member Norway are exempt from the EU ban. A popular movement during the run-up to the 1994 referendum for Sweden's EU membership made the exemption of EU's criminalization of snus a part of the membership treaty. Recent actions by many European Governments to limit the use of cigarettes has led to calls to lift the ban on snus as it is generally considered to be less harmful, both to the user and surroundings, than cigarette smoke. DEBATE AMONG PUBLIC HEALTH RESEARCHERS There is some debate among in Snus users, so the health effects are not all positive, however. Snus is clearly much less harmful than other tobacco products; according to Kenneth Warner, director of the University of Michigan Tobacco Research Network, :"The Swedish government has studied this stuff to death, and to date, there is no compelling evidence that it has any adverse health consequences. ... Whatever they eventually find out, it is dramatically less dangerous than smoking." Opponents of snus sales maintain that, nevertheless, even the low nitrosamine levels in snus cannot be completely risk free, but snus proponents point out that inasmuch as snus is used as a substitute for smoking or a means to quit smoking, the net overall effect is positive, similar to the effect of nicotine patches, for instance. In addition, rather obviously, this eliminates any exposure to "second-hand Smoke" , further reducing possible harm to other non-tobacco users. This is seen by public health advocates who believe in "harm reduction" as a reason for recommending snus in addition to other Nicotine Replacement Therapies rather than continued use of cancer-causing nicotine delivery systems. BRANDS AND MANUFACTURERS
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