Forbidding the use of snus in Ulricehamn???

How much does living abroad affects you? I guess that the longer you stay somewhere and the more integrated you get the more “their” ideas will become “your own” ideas. I felt quit Swedish living abroad but being back I notice that my ideas often are very much mine. Sweden is not as liberal as I thought and people are much less critical then the Dutch. If Big brother tells you that this is how you should live your life most Swedes go – OK! A Dutch person would do the opposite and would interpret the rule to fit their own ideas of how society should be run (which sometimes can be just as annoying!).

A few weeks ago I wrote about the strange adult film policy we have here in the municipality. I am not allowed to stay in a hotel while on a conference where there is a possibility to watch adult films as this can give me the wrong idea about women and sexuality???? (9th of October – “Emancipation and adult films” in this blog). Now the next strange policy is on the agenda! Some people want to ban the right for people working for the municipality to use any form of tobacco. Well, before we welcome this idea (which many people seem to do!) we need to decide what we mean by tobacco and question if and why we need to add new regulations. In situations where use of a substance may affect bystanders, regulations - such as in the case of smoking - should be enacted to protect the bystander without denying the individual's choice to use the substance. Smoking and non-smoking areas in public places are a prime example of this. It is already forbidden to smoke in any public building in Sweden so we do not need any new laws in this area. However, the policy discussed in Ulricehamn is not only looking at smoking or other drug abuse but want to forbid the use of snus.

Snus, a Swedish tobacco product, is a moist powder product that is consumed by placing it under the upper lip for extended periods of time. It contains nicotine and since the indoor smoking ban was put into place in Sweden in 2005, sales of snus has increased dramatically. You can use snus without it affecting anyone else and recent studies from Umeå University in Sweden have shown that no carcinogenic effects can be attributed to snus. Using snus does not increase your chance on getting cancer. In fact WHO acknowledges that Swedish men have the lowest rate of lung cancer in Europe, partly due to the low tobacco smoking rate.
Why should we as municipality forbid people to use a product that is not dangerous to the user and does not affect bystanders? How much freedom can you take away from an individual and don’t we want people that take responsibility of their own actions?

Some people will choose to use their freedom to engage in activities that go against our personal values. It is a great temptation to use our democratic rights to try and enshrine our own personal values - whether they come from religious or humanistic origins - in the laws of a nation or as organisation. However, we can use other means to fight for the ideas we believe in. Freedom of choice, as long as it does not infringe on another's rights, is something to treasure!