Scaling the Swedish Model: Can the World's Most Successful Tobacco Strategy Be Exported?
Sweden has the lowest smoking rate in Europe—achieved not through abstinence but through snus, a reduced-risk oral product. The Swedish model is the strongest evidence for harm reduction. Can it be replicated elsewhere?
Swedish men smoke at the lowest rate in Europe (under 5%) but use nicotine at European-average rates—they get it from snus instead of cigarettes. The result: the lowest male lung cancer mortality in Europe. **The Swedish model demonstrates that population-level harm reduction works. The challenge is replicating it elsewhere. Snus is banned in the EU (except Sweden). The cultural conditions that made snus acceptable in Sweden don't exist everywhere. But the principle—make reduced-risk products accessible, acceptable, and affordable—is transferable.**
