SNUFF IN QUESTION TIME: Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland (Ap) puts a price on his ministerial seat in the parliament. The then Minister of Culture Anette Trettebergstuen (left) waits for the next question from the podium. Photo: Tomm W. Christiansen / Aftenposten
VG has tried to survey snuff use in the government. It would prove to be a difficult task.
Let it be said right away: This article has been written with minimal involvement and visible commitment from the government.
– No comment from here.
– Will not participate in the snuff case.
– I have no comment on this case.
– We do not wish to contribute to such a case.
The answers are either from the ministers themselves or from their advisers after several partly polite invitations to give interviews or answer questions about snuff.
Anyway: VG can today say that there are at least five members in the government who snuff daily or more periodically.
Two of the ministers do not wish to be named and photographed, as some of their closest relatives are not informed about snuff use.
VALVAKE: Center Party minister Geir Pollestad, here with Sandra Borch, likes to take a snuff. Here they are photographed on election night 11 September in Høymagasinet at Akershus fortress. Photo: Naina Helén Jåma / VG
Since there are 20 members in the new government, a quality-assured calculation shows that 25 percent of the government snuffs.
This is a four percentage point greater proportion of snuff users than the general public (21 per cent), confirms the country’s perhaps leading expert on snuff use in public health contexts, Karl Erik Lund at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
ICE CREAM BEFORE SNUFF? The Ap deputy leaders and ministers Jan Christian Vestre and Tonje Brenna each had an ice cream in connection with the Ap national meeting in Oslo this spring. Photo: Gabriel Aas Skålevik / VG
– Then the government’s snus use is probably above the average in the Norwegian parliament, comments Lund. He has worked with statistics and research around snuff use for 37 years.
Therefore, he naturally noticed that the then Minister of Health, Jonas Gahr Støre, already in the Stoltenberg 2 government set himself the ambitious goal of reducing snuff use ten years ago.
The proportion (16–74 years) who use snus daily must not exceed eight percent, stated Støre in the National strategy for the work against tobacco damage 2013–2016.
– But that goal turned out to be particularly difficult to achieve. There was an acknowledgment both in the government and in the professional community that snus was used by many as a substitute for smoking during a period when smoking was reduced, explains Karl Erik Lund in FHI.
In short: Snuff use became an important quitting method for smokers.
WATER AND SNUFF: Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland (Ap) and Children and Family Minister Kjersti Toppe (Sp) met with the electricity industry about electricity prices in the new year. Aasland drank water with the snuffbox within reach. Toppe is happy that she doesn’t snuff. Photo: NTB
Among the few ministers who, in working on this case, have answered something about their relationship with snus, there are two ministers from Bergen who stand out.
– Does not snuff. Knows little or nothing about the topic, writes Culture and Social Affairs Minister Lubna Jaffery (Ap) in a text message to VG.
Minister for Children and Families and mother of six, Kjersti Toppe (Sp), made it clear what she thinks about sniffing:
– No, it doesn’t. And I’m happy about it, analyzes Toppe.
The new Minister of Knowledge, Kari Nessa Nordtun (Ap) snuffed a lot before, she reveals.
– But I have stopped now, she adds.
SNUSVITAR: Karl Erik Lund at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) has worked with snuff and tobacco use for 37 years. Photo: Helge Mikalsen / VG
We go to the Ministry of Health and Care. State Secretary Ole Henrik Krat Bjørkholt answers:
– Does the government have any responsibility as role models to take the lead in reducing their own snus use before demanding that most people do it?
– The government does not demand that anyone quit smoking, but tries to encourage and help those who want to quit. All adults are role models for children and young people, but it is the individual himself who must decide on his nicotine use. Much of the success we have had in the tobacco prevention work is due to changes in attitude over time, says Krat Bjørkholt.
– Is the State Secretary possibly snooping on the Minister of Health himself? Why/why not?
– Neither the Minister of Health nor I sniff. The Ministry of Health and Care is working to follow up the government’s goal of reduced nicotine use in society and will facilitate help for those who want to quit, and to protect children and young people from nicotine addiction and associated health damage.
Current Minister of Agriculture and Food, Geir Pollestad (Sp) is known for carrying his snuff box with him when he travels.
When some time ago there was talk of introducing a ban on flavored snus – as well as introducing a ban on people born after a certain date never being able to buy smoke or snus, then Pollestad reacted.
– The Center Party’s parliamentary group clearly says no to a prohibition line, Pollestad told VG.
SNUFF IN YOUR POCKET: Both ex. Minister Ola Borten Moe (Sp) and Minister Terje Aasland have their snuff safely in their trouser pockets during the budget conference at Klækken in Ringerike this spring. Photo: Alf Simensen / NTB
Among the still many ministers who have left the Støre government more or less voluntarily, Ola Borten Moe (Sp) was perhaps the most open snuffer.
During a meeting with a Norwegian snus producer this spring, Borten Moe was asked by Nettavisen if he had tried the snus.
– Yes, answered the then minister for research and higher education.
To the follow-up question about what he thinks, the Trøndar replied:
– I can’t say that, because then it would be illegal advertising and a breach of the Marketing Act.
The author himself snuffed a couple of times in his youth in the mid-80s, but couldn’t get the snuff to sit properly in his upper lip – and hasn’t snuffed since then.
SNAP TOGETHER: Raymond Johansen and former school board in Oslo, Tone Tellevik Dahl at Ap-valvaka in 2017. Photo: Helge Mikalsen / VGPublisert:
Published: 26.10.23 at 14:13
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2023-10-26 12:13:59
#Snuff #alarm #government #failing #snuff #targets
