Europe and Snus!

[Snusburgh]

I buy watches for a living and yearly travel to Basel and Germany. Is it rude to snus and or place the snus in your mouth amoung company, at a restaurant etc? In Germany, I never really encountered any looks and the people are top notch in my experience. Still, in Basel just a short distance down the Rhine they look at you like you have grown horns with the snus or snuff? Are they jealous that I am a Fat lipper from America that gets the snus at good prices or do they want the German beer so bad they hate the world? Snusburgh

[Craig de Tering]

Dunno. But I think it depends totally on where exactly you're at.
I imagine sitting at an outdoor beer garden or out in the country would get you no looks as opposed to a fancy hotel lobby. :lol:

Just remember snus isn't common in Europe at all *except* in Sweden and perhaps Norway.
If people stare just tell 'em "it's chewin' t'bacca" and use an exaggerated southern drawl. ;-)

[Zero]

Also, for whatever reason, I've met Swiss guys who had the most screwed up urban legends about "crazy swedish snus"... things like "they put broken glass in it so that it cuts your gums to help the nicotine absorb", etc :shock: :?:

Like... wtf? Maybe it's some eurocrat disinformation campaign, I don't know. Trying to justify the ban by spreading demonic stories to the people? I don't know how common those ideas were, but these guys seemed to talk of it like it was common knowledge of some sort :?

[Soft Morning, City!]

Zero:

We've got the same legend about broken glass in snuff here in America. Nearly everyone I've ever talked to, even most of the ones that dipped or chewed, talked of "fiberglass" and "glass" in dip/chew to aide in nicotine absorption.

Nonsense.

[Zero]

Humans are retarded... there's no other explanation :lol:

[Stargazer]

you wount get those looks in Norway or sweden, thats for sure.
when people see something they don't understand they get curious and
stare. But it's still better than what happened to a friend of mine that
went to london. He got stoped by the police that thought that he was using drugs! :lol:
the glass thing is a hard dying myth, some people that snus even beleave
it to be true. It's probably people getting tricked by the salt crystals in
slightly dry snus.

[The Wolf]

Many people still find snus repulsive here (ecspecially girls) but I haven't had any dirty looks when I use snus in public places (in school, stores, streets etc.). Though it is illegal here nowadays, people have grown to accept it's popularity and very often smokers get more dirty looks than snusers. Since they banned smoking in restaurants and bars, snus had become even more common.

[Snusburgh]

Thanks!

Basel Watch Show this year should be fun, I will walk by the Swedish section of the watch area and throw half a tin of Snus in my lip with pride :shock: .

[phish]

We've got the same legend about broken glass in snuff here in America. Nearly everyone I've ever talked to, even most of the ones that dipped or chewed, talked of "fiberglass" and "glass" in dip/chew to aide in nicotine absorption.
Nonsense.

Hah someone in norway told me they used to do this (he didn't snus). He said the glass cut your lip so the nicotine got absorbed.

It similar to the goldschlager/goldwasser legend that the 'gold' in the spirit cuts your stomach and makes you drunker.

[Soft Morning, City!]

phish:

Yes. The cutting of the lip thing via fiberglass is, for some reason, very widely believed here. But if you take a split second to think about it, if the stuff really contained glass, wouldn't our lips and gums actually bleed?

I don't know about you guys, neither American dip or Swedish snus have ever caused my mouth to bleed.

That Goldschlager misconception is just bizarre. I've never drank it myself, mainly because I'm not a fan of schnapps. But I just couldn't imagine that swallowing a few gold flakes would do much harm. I may be wrong, but I know a lot of people who like the stuff and they've never had any ill effect as a result of consumption.

[aardvark]

Re: Europe and Snus!

I buy watches for a living and yearly travel to Basel

Hey, that's where I live! So when you're coming here always remember: you are not snusing alone out there :-)

Is it rude to snus and or place the snus in your mouth amoung company, at a restaurant etc?

Snus, as well as any other smokeless tobacco broduct, simply is like totally unknown here, so putting it in among company (and even worse: while being in a restaurant) might get you some attention.
I don't know if it would be considered rude though. Not among your friends or so, but maybe among other watch-selling businessmen. I think of the watch-business as being a noble, high-priced business, where it simply might not be considered "appropriate" to have something in your mouth while doing business talk.
If you are fine with portions and don't like constantly flip them around in your mouth, there should IMO be no problem. I'd however *not* use lössnus!
I personally only use portions in public and while in a resturant I'd simply put the new portion on my tongue and use my tongue to put the portion to it's final place. It's barely noticeable if you do it like this.

Still, in Basel just a short distance down the Rhine they look at you like you have grown horns with the snus or snuff?

This never happened to me ... erm, how much snus do you put under your lips then :-)

Are they jealous that I am a Fat lipper from America that gets the snus at good prices or do they want the German beer so bad they hate the world?

Neither: snus costs the same here as for you in the US (but we probably pay less for the freight). And I definitely do *not* prefer German beer over a well-cooled Swiss Feldschlösschen or Calanda! I'm doing hard not to take any offense here! (just kidding).

[STORM6490MT]

I've used snus in Austria, Italy, CzechR., Slovakia, Poland and Canada. The only time they look at me funny is when I put a los snus in here in America. Strange eh?

To hell with them. They probably think you are doing illegal drugs. Oh well. It has sparked a few conversations with dip chewers here. They try it and are amazed with the buzz and true flavor it gives..


I'd just keep snusing and not worry about others unless it can put a damper on business.

Snus on man!

[Zeno]

Re: Europe and Snus!

I've just discovered this thread and would like to add my 2 cents as well, even it is already half a year old...

Like aardvark I'm living near Basel and as a new snuser I have made my experience with some funny reactions too!

Still, in Basel just a short distance down the Rhine they look at you like you have grown horns with the snus or snuff?

*rofl* I can really imagine the people looking at the 'crazy american guy', who is shoving brown powder under his lip :lol: People in Switzerland are VERY suspicious of what they don't know. Even in Basel, which is one of the larger cities in Switzerland. However, if you put descreetly a portion in, most people wouldn't even notice (at least that's my experience)

Also, for whatever reason, I've met Swiss guys who had the most screwed up urban legends about "crazy swedish snus"... things like "they put broken glass in it so that it cuts your gums to help the nicotine absorb", etc ... Maybe it's some eurocrat disinformation campaign, I don't know.

There seems to be a lot of disinformation about snus in CH, mainly driven by the Swiss sport association. They are running a campaign for smoke free sport locations and have published a lot of horror stories about snus, like it would cause rotten teeth and gums or even different forms of cancer (and of course the glass legend). Even one week ago there was an article in the newspaper writing about the current discussion in the EU to legalize the sales of snus and where they wrote how dangerous snus is (exchanging lung cancer with mouth cancer)...
Maybe it's just the Swiss tobacco industry who is behind this disinformation, being afraid of getting competition?
Fact is, that smoking weed seems to be more socially accepted (not legal, though) than snusing! But in spite of this, I am a good example that the Swiss Snus underground is growing 8) . I'm predicting that it will grow even more, once they have completetly banned smoking in bars and restaurants (which has started already in some parts of the country)

[Starcadia]

I've heard for many years that menthol cigarettes like Newport and Kool contain fiberglass. I've even heard that that's what gives cigarettes their menthol sensation.

But everyone you talk to has a different idea about which cigarette is the strongest and which is the worst for you, etc.

How does one bring snus into an EU country? Is it a hassle?

[chainsnuser]

How does one bring snus into an EU country? Is it a hassle?

No, it's absolutely not! Snus is banned for sale but free to import for personal use. In most if not all EU-countries it's also free of duty.

That's some kind of a prohibition anyway, because not many people know about snus in the first place and not everyone, who has heard about snus, is willing to do 'international business' just to try it.

Cheers!