You will never see published a letter from a cigarette smoker thanking Altria or Reynolds American for addicting them to nicotine through cigarettes.  Likewise, a short note saying “I’m a life-long smoker.  So happy today to learn I have lung cancer!” is even more unlikely.

In the case of nicotine-addicts now cigarette-free because of Swedish snus, thank you letters and testimonials are more the rule than the exception…..

Meet Lyn Patterson; former smoker and current Swedish snus user

We received the following message on the SnusCENTRAL Facebook page last week from Lyn Patterson of Tennessee USA:

I am nearly in tears as I write this. I have smoked since I was 15. (I am nearly 44). Not just a casual smoker either. I was a hard hitter, smoking up to 2-3 packs of camel non-filters, at one point. I have tried EVERYTHING to quit. I took ONE General white Swedish snus portion and I have quit.

I discovered Jakobssons mint strong today as I was still craving those nic spikes. I will NEVER smoke again. My mother died at 60 related to side effects heart disease medications. I don’t want that and was sure I was doomed the same fate. Also, I am a feminine female that works in the beauty industry, so I would have never “dipped”.  No one guesses I am snusing! Please feel free to share this testimonial. Your education about snus could save lives.

Before sharing Lyn’s story, I wanted to ask her a few more questions on how she came to discover Swedish snus and what convinced her to make the switch.

In particular, I was curious in 2016 what made her think snus would be a good way to stop smoking, where she bought your first can of General White Portion snus (US store or internet), and did the current inaccurate FDA-required warning labels on the can bother or hinder her at all from making that purchase?

“I researched snus through you guys at SnusCENTRAL.org and various other safety & health information sites on the internet”, Lyn replied.

We can all thank a Shell gas station by the Walmart in Manchester, TN for being a General Snus dealer and introducing Lyn to General White Portion. “ I was so pleased with it I bought 2 more cans and now my husband is converting.”

Kudos to Mike Dean, General Snus Brand Manager and Swedish Match North America for General Snus’s growing presense in the US over-the-counter market.

Lyn continued “We plan on ordering from the SnusCentral.com Snus Shop to try more flavors although we are still perplexed as to which to try first”. 

This is a common yet wonderful problem, Lyn.  While General Snus only sells 8 products over the counter with Jakobsson’s and Thunder adding a few more options in more limited US areas, over 200 Scandinavian snuses are available from reputable internet stores shipping from Sweden worldwide (where legal)!

FDA and the General Snus MRTP Application

I was most curious about the effect (or lack thereof) the current generic smokeless tobacco warning labels FDA requires on cans of Swedish snus sold in or into the US.

In 2014, Swedish Match North America submitted a Modified Risk Tobacco Product (MRTP) application to FDA petitioning that three of the four warning labels currently used on General Snus be modified to accurately reflect the products; not simply to parrot the warnings on more harmful tobacco products.

By law, FDA was supposed to have ruled on the General Snus MRTP Application in August of 2015.

Now 14 months past that date, the 125,000+ page initial MRTP application, two 30 day public comment periods, review and testimony before the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC), and additional document requests by FDA to Swedish Match, and false hopes, FDA has responded…..with silence.

I’ve reached out to FDA over the past year concerning the MRTPA.  The response always boils down to “pending”.  No matter how many different ways I phrase the question, the answer is always “pending” and not a word more.

My concern is and has always been what reaction an inaccurate warning label stating “This product causes cancer” would have on a cigarette smoker considering switching to snus?  Would they say, “well then, why bother switching” thus endangering their health under false pretenses?

Lyn’s answer surprised me but maybe that’s because she had educated herself on the product before picking up a can.

“The label didn’t bother me AT ALL. The fact that they were willing to divulge the ingredients was impressive to me and many of the ladies I work with were also shocked to see such transparency about the contents. I mean, you don’t see that on American manufacturing right?!?”

Swedish Snus:  the most discreet nicotine-rich solution to quit smoking

Like Lyn, I smoked most of my life.  Like Lyn, I tried quitting many times but never was able to overcome the nicotine monkey on my back.

Like Lyn, I discovered Swedish snus through the internet, although it was a lot harder back then.  A local tobacco store (now closed) sold me my first can of General Original Portion snus and I’ve been cigarette-free since 2007.

Like Lyn, heart disease runs in my family.  Unlike Lyn, I’ll be 59 years old in January.  I’m firmly convinced if I hadn’t stumbled across Swedish snus 9 years ago, I wouldn’t be here today.

That’s why I created SnusCENTRAL.org all those years ago…to provide a central location of factual information, discussion, commentary, reviews, and all the rest extolling the salvation Swedish snus brings to nicotine-addicted smokers, especially in the USA where snus is still largely unknown.

Today, there are others out there now doing the same thing and the Swedish snus community has grown exponentially….shout out to Chad Jones and Snubie.com.

It’s very time consuming for all of us with little reward.  That’s why testimonials like Lyn’s are so important to us in the anti-cigarette/pro-snus movement.  People like Lyn make all our efforts worthwhile…saving one nicotine addict at a time from an unnecessary and painful death which cigarettes ultimately deliver.

Swedish Snus:  spitless, completely discreet, can be used anywhere unnoticed, and about as safe as French Roast coffee.  It’s a nicotine dream come true.

Enjoy your REAL Swedish Snus and your health!

LARRY WATERS

Swedish Snus Ambassador to the United States
Reporting From Sweden and the USA for SnusCENTRAL.org