The proposal is met with skepticism among young snusers.
Imagine you're a teenager, you're angry, you have hormones and then someone comes and says you can't snuse. I would get really angry, says 24-year-old Varja in Stockholm.
Varja uses white snus, just like "all" her friends.
My sister snuses tobacco snus and I'm like, uh, she says and makes a disgusted sound. She's the only one in my vicinity who snuses tobacco snus. Even my brother snuses white snus.
The goal is to quit, but it's hard, she says.
22-year-old Sophie is also skeptical but agrees with the Public Health Agency that teachers should also be included if that's the case.
If we're not allowed to snuse, then the teacher shouldn't be allowed to snuse either. I had a teacher where it just dripped from his teeth, she says.
Sharp increase
Snusing has increased significantly among young people in Sweden since the so-called white snus was launched in 2016. The snus contains no tobacco but can have large amounts of nicotine and is very addictive.
In the national school survey from the Central Association for Alcohol and Drug Information (CAN) last year, 16 percent of ninth-graders stated that they snused - compared to 5 percent in 2017. Among high school students, 29 percent snused. The increase is most evident among girls, where the proportion of snusers has increased from 4 to 26 percent in high school over a ten-year period.
Helen Stjerna, secretary-general of A non-smoking generation, which works to reduce the use of nicotine and tobacco products among young people, has followed the development with frustration.
They claim it's smoking cessation for adults. In reality, it's the most sophisticated introduction for children and young people. They have been able to recruit a whole new generation of nicotine users.
The latest CAN report shows that even smoking, which has decreased among high school students over a long period, has stopped. Over the past three years, a small increase has been seen instead.
If you believe the industry, the number of smokers should decrease, says Stjerna.
According to the Public Health Agency, nicotine products such as white snus and e-cigarettes pose both direct and indirect health risks.
Those who use the products are at increased risk of starting to smoke cigarettes. If you start using e-cigarettes, you also see links to an increased risk of drinking more and starting to smoke cannabis, says investigator Grethe Fochsen.
The direct impact is still relatively unexplored, but basic research shows that the young brain is sensitive to nicotine and that it can affect emotional and cognitive abilities.
We don't know what the long-term impact will be. But when we talk about health risks, we say that all tobacco and nicotine use among children and young people is harmful and that the precautionary principle applies.
In addition, there are well-known risks associated with snusing during pregnancy. Research on tobacco snus, where it is known that nicotine contributes to harmful effects, shows links to premature birth, in rare cases that the fetus dies in the womb, and sudden infant death.
Good example
However, the industry wants to highlight Sweden as a good example, where they believe that the availability of tobacco-free alternatives is a key explanation for why only five percent of Swedes smoke.
We've looked at this, and there's no scientific evidence to suggest that snusing contributes to a decrease in tobacco smoking, says Grethe Fochsen.
A knowledge overview from the Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Assessment of Social Services (SBU) in 2020 showed that there is no scientific support for the claim that snusing contributes to changed smoking habits.
Fochsen instead points to the broad preventive work against smoking that has been going on for decades as an explanation. It is the work that was previously done against smoking that now needs to be done against the new products, according to the Public Health Agency.
According to Grethe Fochsen, there is already a lot of legislation in place, but compliance needs to be strengthened. This includes, among other things, better age control when selling nicotine products: 40 percent of snusers in ninth grade and high school buy it themselves in stores, according to CAN.
Another issue is the role of schools. An investigation proposed last year that students should not be allowed to use nicotine products at all during school hours, even if they are 18.
The Public Health Agency wants to go further and writes in its referral response that it would be "desirable" to also prohibit teachers from snusing during school hours to normalize the behavior, and that it should be further investigated.
24-year-old Hilda Johansson, who does not snuse herself, thinks it's wrong.
I understand that you want to restrict it in some way and have control in school, but at the same time, we've decided that adults should go to school. Then we have to be able to accept it. I think you have to make your own mistakes, or make your own decisions.
Paula Derkert, 26, believes that young people will continue to snuse even if a school ban is introduced. She was previously a smoker herself, but chose to quit. When she later got to try white snus from a friend, she became "a little hooked".
I wouldn't say I'm extremely addicted, but I'm definitely half-addicted.
The government has not announced how it stands on the investigation's proposal.
Traditional brown snus is banned throughout the EU, and Sweden is the only EU country with an exemption from the sales ban.
However, there is still no common regulatory framework for nicotine pouches, also known as white snus, within the union. Several countries have, however, taken their own steps to stop white snus.
Recently, the French government announced that it will introduce a total ban on the sale of white snus from March 2026. Earlier this year, Spain also announced that it plans to introduce a law that in practice bans white snus.
Previously, several other countries, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Denmark, have taken measures to restrict or completely stop white snus.
In the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in January 2025 that the white snus Zyn will be allowed to continue to be sold, as it believes the benefits outweigh the risks if smokers switch to white snus.
