Not just sweets: why snus is dangerous for our children

We’re scared, partly because we can’t understand exactly what snus is and why it’s so popular among children. Adults also have their own legends about snus, who are sure that these sachets and lollipops are a drug like the notorious “spice”. But is it?

Drug or not?

“Initially, snus was a common name for various nicotine-containing products that were used to reduce addiction to cigarettes,” explains psychologist Alexei Kazakov, a specialist in working with addicts. And in the countries of Scandinavia, where snus was invented, this word is mainly called chewing or snuff.

In our country, non-tobacco or flavored snus is common: sachets, lollipops, marmalade, in which there may not be tobacco, but nicotine is definitely there. In addition to nicotine, snus can contain table salt or sugar, water, soda, flavorings, so sellers often say that it is a “natural” product. But this “naturalness” does not make it less harmful to health.

New drug?

Snus bloggers claim that it is not a drug. And, oddly enough, they don’t lie, because a drug is, according to the definition of the World Health Organization, “a chemical agent that causes stupor, coma, or insensitivity to pain.”

The word “drug” traditionally refers to illegal psychoactive substances – and nicotine, along with caffeine or extracts from various medicinal herbs, is not one of them. “Not all psychoactive substances are drugs, but all drugs are psychoactive substances, and this is the difference,” the expert emphasizes.

Any psychoactive substances affect the activity of the central nervous system and change the mental state. But comparing nicotine, albeit at a high dosage, in terms of the degree of harm caused with the same opioids or “spice” is not very correct.

Snus, unlike what we call drugs, is sold legally in tobacco shops. For its distribution, no one faces criminal liability. Moreover, the law does not even prohibit the sale of snus to minors. Tobacco products cannot be sold to children, but products containing the main “tobacco” component can.

True, now the alarmed public is thinking about how to limit the sale of snus. So, on December 23, the Federation Council asked the government to suspend the sale of nicotine-containing sweets and marmalades in bright packages.

Bloggers promoting snus insist that it is supposedly safe. “There can be a lot of nicotine in one serving of snus. So it causes the same nicotine addiction as cigarettes – and very strong. And you can start to suffer from it, because addiction, in turn, causes withdrawal. Plus, gums and teeth suffer from the use of snus,” explains Alexey Kazakov.

After all, the type of snus that is sold in the form of a sachet needs to be kept under the lip for 20-30 minutes so that the active substance enters the bloodstream. In addition, no one canceled the individual reaction to the “nicotine shock” so touted by bloggers. Snus poisoning is quite real – and it’s good if the matter does not reach the hospital. There are other risks as well. “It is not clear how snus is actually produced, under what conditions it happens. And we will never know for sure what is actually mixed there, ”says Alexei Kazakov.

Why do they need it?

At an age when separation from parents becomes a priority, children begin to take risks. And snus seems to them a great way to do something rebellious, but without the elders finding out about it. After all, you are using some kind of “adult” substance, but parents may not notice it at all. It does not smell like smoke, fingers do not turn yellow, and flavors make the taste of a nicotine-containing product not so unpleasant.

Why do children and teenagers generally crave substances? “There are many reasons. But very often they are looking for such experiences in order to cope with feelings that are usually labeled as negative. We are talking about fear, self-doubt, excitement, a sense of own insolvency.

Teenagers are not very good with feelings. What happens to them, they usually refer to themselves as “something”. Something indistinct, incomprehensible, unidentified – but it is impossible to stay in this state for a long time. And the use of any psychoactive substances “works” as a temporary anesthesia. The scheme is fixed with repetition: the brain remembers that in the event of tension, you just need to take the “medicine,” Aleksey Kazakov warns.

Tough Conversation

But how can we, as adults, talk to a child about the dangers of substance use? It’s a difficult question. “I don’t think it makes sense to arrange a special lecture: to instruct, teach, broadcast about the horrors and nightmares of this world. Because the child, most likely, has already heard and knows all this. If you “goon” about harm, this will only increase the distance between you and will not improve relations. When was the last time you yourself felt love for someone who was ringing in your ear?”, says Alexey Kazakov. But we can definitely say that frankness in such a conversation will not hurt.

“I am for an environmentally friendly approach and trust. If a child trusts mom and dad, he will come up and ask everything himself – or tell. They say, “So and so, the guys throw themselves out, they offer me, but I don’t know what to answer.” Or – “I tried, utter nonsense.” Or even “I tried it and I liked it.” And at this point, you can start building a dialogue,” says Alexei Kazakov. What to talk about?

“Parents can share their experience with snus videos. Tell them that they are worried and worried about their child. The main thing is not to run into, but to look for common ground, ”the psychologist believes. If you can’t build a dialogue, you can seek help from professionals in the field of psychotherapy.

“The deepest reason for our experiences is not in the child and not in what he does, but in the fact that we are not very good at handling our fear. We try to immediately eliminate it – even before we identify our feeling as fear, ”explains Aleksey Kazakov. If a parent does not “dump” their fear onto the child, if they can cope with it, talk about it, be in it, this increases the chances that the child will not resort to the use of psychoactive substances.

Often parents are advised to strengthen control over the child. Reduce the amount of pocket money, follow the subjects of his interest in social networks, sign him up for additional classes so that there is not a minute of free time.

“The greater the control, the greater the resistance,” Aleksey Kazakov is sure. — To control a teenager, like any other, in principle, is impossible. You can only revel in the illusion that you are in control. If he wants to do something, he will do it. Intervening unnecessarily in a teenager’s life will only add fuel to the fire.”

Are friends and bloggers to blame for everything?

When we are scared and hurt, we naturally seek to find the “guilty” to alleviate our feelings. And bloggers who advertise such products on their own channels and in groups play a big role in the snus story. Well, and, of course, the same “bad company” that “taught bad things.”

“Peers and idols are really very important for a teenager: when a child enters a transitional age, he has an identity crisis, he is looking for himself,” says Alexei Kazakov. It is we, adults, who understand (and not always!) that people advertise anything they like, and we must remember that they simply earn money on this advertising.

But when you have a hormonal explosion, it is really difficult to think critically – almost impossible! Therefore, aggressive advertising can really affect someone. But if parents try to communicate with the child, if people in the family are working to build relationships – and they need to be built, they will not work out on their own – then external influence will be insignificant.

While politicians are thinking about how to limit the sale of snus and what to do with bloggers who praise the notorious sachets and lollipops in every way, let’s not play the blame game. After all, in this way we are simply distracted by the “external enemy”, which will always be present in our lives in one form or another. And at the same time, the main thing disappears from the focus: our relationship with the child. And they, except for us, no one will save and correct.