Sweden bans smokers from bars

The makers of "snus", a smokeless tobacco product banned in most of the EU, looked forward to new sales in Sweden yesterday after the government banned smoking in restaurants.

The Nordic country is the fourth in Europe to follow the example of Ireland, where a smoking ban in pubs, restaurants and workplaces was introduced in March last year. Italy and Malta have also enacted similar laws and there are plans to ban smoking in enclosed public spaces in Spain, Belgium and Great Britain.

EU outsider Norway, which enforced a smoking ban in restaurants a year ago, said sales of cigarettes has dropped due to the new law, while snus sales surged.

The ban has been largely welcome in public health-conscious Sweden, with opinion polls showing 85 per cent support for an end to smoking in restaurants.

"You still go out mainly to get drunk. The smoking is just a bonus," Otto Gabrielsson, a 23-year-old Swede told Reuters late on Tuesday in a downtown Stockholm bar.

It was also cheered by the makers of snus, already a trademark vice for Swedes.

Pronounced "snoos", the moist tobacco tucked under the lip gives a strong nicotine buzz, but produces less saliva than chewing tobacco, making it more practical to use indoors as the user does not have to spit.

"We're in the midst of supplying restaurants with vending machines, and snus coolers for bars. The restaurant people have been a bit slow to catch on but there's a lot of demand now," said Mikael Arnebert, a spokesman for Swedish Match, the world's largest snus maker.

Almost 10 per cent of Sweden's nine million population use snus, but it is prohibited in the rest of the European Union due to uncertainty over its health impact.

The Scandinavian country negotiated an exemption before joining the EU in 1995, due to its long tradition of using the product.