KEY POINTS:
Nasal snuff, a form of sniffing tobacco that many may associate with whiskered gents from an earlier age, is about to go on sale in New Zealand.
The imminent arrival of Singleton's snuff, made by Swedish Match and inhaled as a pinch of powder between thumb and finger,
has divided the anti-smoking community.
Smokeless New Zealand welcomes the product. Its leader, Murray Laugesen, a public health physician and former chairman of Action on Smoking and Health (Ash), views it as a much lower-risk way than smoking of getting a nicotine hit.
But Ash communications manager Sneha Paul condemns the development as an "experiment" that will increase health risks.
What Swedish Match calls a "test launch" of its nasal snuff follows a research review last week by the Christchurch School of Medicine, which found that using Swedish oral snuff, also caused snus, was considerably safer than smoking, but still carried greater risks than not using tobacco at all.
Dr Laugesen said the health risks of using nasal snuff were likely to be similar to the oral variety, which comes in a tiny teabag-like pouch to put under the lip.
Swedish Match government relations manager Reg Hodgson, based in Melbourne, said the price of the 3.5g tins of nasal snuff in this country was not yet known. He expected it to go on sale at tobacconists within three weeks. "We've had occasional calls over the last 18 months from tobacconists and consumers asking about the availability of nasal snuff. We're putting our toe in the water to see if there's any realistic market there."
He said the market was growing in the United States and Scandinavia, driven largely by increasing restrictions on smoking.
Oral snuff cannot legally be sold in New Zealand although it can be imported for personal use. Nasal snuff can be sold, but not to under-18s; nor can it be advertised.
Dr Laugesen's group wants tax reductions and law changes to make low-toxicity Swedish snuff more accessible as a less-harmful alternative to smoking.
It urges nasal snuff be used as a second-line quit-smoking product after nicotine-replacement therapy patches and gum.
But Miss Paul said it was better to stick with the state-subsidised nicotine-replacement therapy scheme, which was "proven to work ... instead of introducing something new to New Zealand.
"It's just New Zealanders used as an experiment and I don't think that's right. The only thing they [the Christchurch review] have shown is that it works in Sweden."
If oral and nasal snuff became available in New Zealand - both are addictive - they would be likely to appeal to youth because of their novelty. "They might smoke and they might use snus as well - dual use."
The Ministry of Health,which is committed to eliminating tobacco, remains cautious on snus, saying more research is needed.
