Decline in tobacco and nicotine consumption in Finland

Although snus is banned in Finland, as in the rest of the European Union except Sweden, Finnish teenagers, who are not heavy smokers, manage to get their hands on it.

A small bag of tobacco to be placed between the lip and the gum, snus is, in the European Union, only authorized in Sweden, its country of origin. The common border between Sweden and Finland, and the authorization for Finns to import 1000 grams of snus on their return, have however favored the illicit diffusion of snus in Finland.

The latest results of the study on health promotion in schools indicate that 43% of high school students have consumed a tobacco product at least once a year, this proportion rising to 67% for students in vocational education. Snus is increasingly present among the tobacco products experimented with or consumed, and a third of adolescents obtain it via social networks, as well as through their friends' network.[1]The Institute of Health and Solidarity (THL) calls for parents to be vigilant regarding their children's use of websites and social networks, where the purchase of tobacco products is facilitated.

Tobacco products are little used and in decline

Smoking prevalence has fallen significantly in Finland in recent years, from 24% in 2000 to 14% in 2018. Among 14-16 year-olds, the prevalence was 5% in 2018, but with significant disparities: while only 3% of high school students were smokers in 2019, this rate rose to 19% for vocational school students.[2].

Daily snus consumption, which is between 1 and 3% among adults, was 5% among school-age adolescents and 15% among vocational school students in 2019. This snus consumption increased sharply between 2008 and 2015 for all school-age young people, and has since only increased among vocational school students. Until now mainly present among boys, snus use has increased significantly among girls since 2017.

Daily use of electronic cigarettes only concerned 2% of adults in 2018 and has significantly declined among young people in school, from 6% in 2015 to just over 2% in 2019.

A deterioration in the image of tobacco products

This disinterest in tobacco has been accompanied by a change in perception of the product, which, according to a 2017 study by the Finnish Youth Research Society and the Finnish Cancer Society, seems silly rather than "cool."

In another more recent study on adolescents' perceptions of different tobacco products, snus, cigarettes and nicotine itself are perceived as toxic products, while e-cigarettes and water pipes benefit from a largely erroneous image of less harmful products.[3]. The authors believe that this degraded perception of tobacco products is based on a coherent discourse of adults and scientists, relayed by traditional media, while electronic cigarettes and water pipes are mainly discussed on social networks, where information is less controlled and lends itself more to misinterpretation. However, adolescents who have experimented with some of these tobacco or nicotine products and whose parents are consumers have less negative perceptions of them.

Progress made in the 2000s has made Finland a model for tobacco control in Europe[4]The changing perceptions of tobacco products and nicotine among young Finns can therefore be interpreted as a kind of life-size laboratory of what a generation without tobacco would be like.

Keywords: Finland, snus, tobacco, youth, social networks

©Tobacco Free Generation

M.F.

[1] One in three teens buys snus on social media, study finds, yle News, published April 8, 2022, accessed April 12, 2022.

[2] Tobacco, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, published 12 October 2020, accessed 12 April 2022.

[3] El-Amin S., Kinnunen JM, Rimpelä A, Adolescents' Perceptions of Harmfulness of Tobacco and Tobacco-like Products in Finland, Int. J. Approx. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(3), 1485.

[4] Fight against tobacco intensifies in Finland, Generation Without Tobacco, published on April 28, 2021, consulted on April 12, 2022.

National Committee Against Smoking |