PAPER: Use of snus to quit smoking but nicotine dependency continued..

July 19, 2010 - A study compared the effects of snus and medicinal products for quitting smoking using self-reports from smokers who have used different methods for quitting smoking can be informative.

Fourteen thousand seven hundred and forty-four (14,744) Norwegian men aged between 20 and 50 years were selected at random from a national representative web panel and sent a questionnaire by E-mail. Of the 7,170 (48.6%) who responded, there were 1,775 former and 1,808 current smokers. They were asked about the method they used and the outcome of their last attempt to quit smoking.

For smokers who reported that they had tried to quit with the help of snus, 62.4% reported that they still used snus at the time of the survey either daily (43.8%) or occasionally (18.6%). The proportion who still used medicinal nicotine products at the time of the survey was 9.5%.

Compared with medicinal nicotine products, snus and varenicline (Chantix, Champix) increased the probability of quitting smoking completely, but snus seemed to maintain nicotine dependence.

PAPER: The use of snus for quitting smoking compared with medicinal products, Karl Erik Lund, Ph.D. (kel@sirus.no) Ann McNeill, Ph.D., & Janne Scheffels, Ph.D., Nicotine & Tobacco Research Advance Access published July 9, 2010.