By Juliette Paoli, Third Year, Modern Languages
Could fewer and fewer be people smoking and vaping every night outside of the Berkeley? Could practices be shifting to the inside, not only of our pubs, but also of our mouths? It seems indeed that vaping is losing its popularity to snus at university, as in the past three years, the number of young people using snus has multiplied by six, while the rise of vaping is stalling. I would argue that this switch is not only a health matter but also exposes an accelerated, anxious and individualised relation to the addiction.
Vaping has been particularly attractive in the past few years, I would even say trendy. At least, it was, before coming to university. One student told me that ‘in school it was very very common’ and statistics show that 20 per cent of 11-17 years old have tried vaping. Vaping was the symbol of an era and a generation attracted by the fun colours and tastes but also, unfortunately, by the illegal aspect of underage smoking. More than that, it was considered a social past-time, and was associated with a certain image of ‘being cool.’ As one student reflects: ‘it was stupid, it was just because everyone else did it. Just because you’re not allowed to do it, it's fun.’ But now, polls demonstrate that 54 per cent of young people disagree that vaping is still fashionable. And it does ‘look a bit silly.’
‘What we are witnessing at uni is not a society that is beginning to smoke less, but a society which is getting trapped in a hazardous addiction and finding radical ways to cope with it.’
In the shift away from this product, snus has positioned itself as an attractive, ‘healthier’ alternative thanks to sleek marketing, mainly targeting young men. It boasts an image of cleaner consumption, one without smoke nor smell, that you can use discreetly and constantly. Surprisingly, one of the main arguments for snus is its discreet and convenient quality, which makes it a very new way of consuming nicotine, privately and non-stop. However, it is still introduced in the exact same way as vapes: socially, through a process of trying and imitating. As another student remembers ‘it got introduced to one person in the friend group and they introduced it to everyone else and everyone else started using it.’
In my opinion, this mutation does not only reveal a change in trends, but that as a society we are still addicted to nicotine, despite governments’ attempts to frame its consumption. Snus symbolises this constant need for nicotine, which is now not only satisfied during defined breaks but 24/7. Where vaping could have been seen as a break from a stressful university environment, to ‘chill’ a bit or even share a social moment, snus attracts new consumers that never stop and use nicotine as a way to deal with pressure and perform, simultaneously. This choice is rather costly because, as a student says, ‘snus is definitely more addictive than vaping’. They confides further: ‘when I started snus I got a lot more addicted to nicotine.’ This increase in snus consumption is not even for the purpose of quitting smoking anymore, like it would have been ten years ago, but rather in addition to smoking for 56 per cent of people and to vaping for 39 per cent. What we are witnessing at uni is not a society that is beginning to smoke less, but a society which is getting trapped in a hazardous addiction and finding radical ways to cope with it.
Apparently, health concerns are a matter that ‘always crosses [the] mind’ of the students I interviewed when smoking or vaping, and it pushes them to opt for snus instead as a ‘healthy’ option. The statement ‘I think that snus is way healthier for you’ shows the efficacy of the ‘clean’ marketing towards younger populations that are now more aware than before that they are hurting their lungs smoking. But the truth is that ‘it might not be better for you, but it is better for different parts of your body and worse, a lot worse, for others’. The way snus works, it is not likely to damage your lungs as there is no inhalation nor combustion, but it is absolutely destructive to your gums. But the problem is that this product has been so recently introduced to the UK market that no actual figures can establish a link between consequences like gum cancers or cardiovascular incidents and the use of snus.
Megan Roberts
In the end, the relatively recent introduction of snus did not only change students’ relation to nicotine but also to each other. It has definitely changed practices and methods of consumption, drifting away from being a social and festive activity, even when it was occasional. It has now become a solitary consumption, that withdraws the individual away from their peers, away from the world that surrounds them. It seems to me the representation of a new era of adult life, where efficiency, a fast-paced life and the self are preferred to fostering social relationships. A clear break with school years, when these social dynamics were the core of life, and the reason why some started smoking, just to connect with others and feel like they belong.
I am not advocating for smoking, vaping, nor snus but only sharing an outsider’s observation of a phenomenon that I feel shows a lot more than it seems. Of course it is a matter of health and addiction, but I feel like analysing it from a social point of view remains relevant, as the tool to understand a generation.
Featured image: Epigram / Sam Couriel
What's your take on snus?
