While smoking is declining, the use of mouth tobacco is on the rise, RÚV reports.
The data was supplied by the Ministry of Welfare in response to a question asked by Progressive MP Siv Friðleifsdóttir. According to their findings, the sale of snuff increased from 11.7 tonnes in 2003 to 25.5 tonnes in 2010. Although snuff is typically intended to be snorted, it is common – especially among young Icelandic males – to use the powdered tobacco orally.
At the same time, smoking has been decreasing steadily. Among adults between the ages of 15 and 89, 19.8% smoked daily in 2004, which then reduced to 19% in 2007, 17.6% in 2008, 15.4% in 2009 and 14.2% last year. Among 16-year-olds, that figure declined from 12% in 2004 to 7% today.
Factoring into the decline in smoking are, among other things, a city ban on smoking in clubs, restaurants and cafés in 2006, and the approval of the sale of nicotine products in regular shop, instead of just pharmacies, in 2008. In many instances, nicotine products are in fact cheaper than cigarettes.
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