Larry Waters Responds to Snus and Swedish Snus Article by the LA Smoking Examiner

Reading through the Latest Snus News today, I came across an article by VJ Sleight  on The Examiner.com entitled The difference between Swedish snus and snus sold in the United States. Being the Leading Expert on Swedish Snus in the United States, I felt obligated to read it….plus it gives me the opportunity to call myself the Leading Expert on Swedish Snus in the United States.

If you’re not familiar with Examiner.com, it’s an interesting variation on the Citizen Journalism model.  CJ is a somewhat new phenomenon in the United States but incredibly popular world wide.  It’s root is the premise that the mainstream media is not free but merely a propaganda outlet of the Government.  It predates the Internet and during the Cold War, was especially popular (and dangerous) in the Soviet Union, the Eastern Bloc, and Communist China.  It still exists in China and many other totalitarian regimes…..you just don’t hear about it very often outside of the country.  It is also a hugely popular form of entertainment in India where it seems everyone is a Citizen Journalist!

In the United States, sites like Ground Report or Neaju.com are good examples.  Americans, it seems, are beginning to wonder a little if the mainstream American Media in a post-Cronkite age is truly impartial.  Imagine that.

Examiner.com twists that a little.  The first time I read it, I didn’t even realize it was a CJ site until I poked around a little.  I thought it was the web version of a traditional newspaper.

Since The Examiner describes their writers as “passionate”, I either expected a glowing article on Swedish Snus or one bashing all snus.  I got neither.

It was a straight forward, matter-of-fact piece simply putting out the facts.  While the facts were not overtly twisted as is the case with so many articles, to slam all tobacco products, I was concerned with the way her bullet points on Swedish Snus were presented; focusing on non-tobacco user statistics in an article concerning tobacco use.

I’m not aware of any sane person recommending non-tobacco users take up any kind of snus.  I know the American tobacco industry is marketing that way but I did say any sane person.

I’ll let you read Ms. Sleights article and my response on The Examiner by  CLICKING HERE. Maybe I’m just hyper-sensitive to perceived nuances in any article having to do with Swedish Snus.  You decide and let me know.  I have to open another can of excellent Swedish Snus.

Sincerely,

Mr. UNZ
Activist Snus Guru
Reporting From SnusCENTRAL.org