Snus is gross. But it’s still better than vaping

Snus is a smokeless nicotine product that you insert between your gum and your upper lip. Your saliva soaks into the pouch which in turn releases nicotine, entering the bloodstream without a million tiny pesky tar particulates. In the UK, it is illegal to sell tobacco-based snus, though the non-tobacco variant, also known as nicotine pouches, is legal and widely accessible. The industry is worth something like £250 million and is growing rapidly. It’s a discreet way for smokers to opt for a safer hit of nicotine – so, inevitably, Labour is looking to ban it.

Labour’s authoritarian approach to nicotine products is a confusing one. How are we supposed to wean ourselves off cigarettes if the tobacco-less alternatives are also banned? Am I expected to wait in a piss-soaked alleyway for some racketeer wearing sunglasses and a trench coat lined with vapes? Am I expected to scour the dark web for illicit supplies of nicotine pouches and end up mistakenly buying a packet of anthrax instead? I’m not convinced that Labour even knows what snus is or, indeed, what it does.